


(when this world is no more) the moon is all we'll see

by hereforthegirlsandthegaysthatsit



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon), To the Moon Series (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, But it's more bittersweet, F/F, Gen, Kinda, Memory Alteration, Time Travel, To the Moon AU, but she does go to the boiling isles, congratulations! welcome to the world of angst, i mean its at the end of their lives, if i forget a trigger tell me and i will add it no questions asked, if you know what that means, its complicated, luz never meets lilith or eda in this au, originally tagged as kinda happy ending, rated teen for mild language and stuff like that, triggers will be tagged in the notes at the beginning of the chapter, when i say major character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:14:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26720482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hereforthegirlsandthegaysthatsit/pseuds/hereforthegirlsandthegaysthatsit
Summary: Dr. Edalyn and Lilith Clawthorne have rather peculiar jobs: They give people another chance to live. Literally.There exists a technology that allows doctors to weave artificial memories, such that a patient can request attempts to alter their mind, and wake up with memories of things that didn’t actually happen. However, since these new memories are permanent, the conflict between them and the existing authentic memories clash in such a way that it ceases the person’s ability to properly function.Thus, the operation is only done to people on their deathbeds, to fulfill what they wish they had done with their lives… but didn’t.Along with the doctors’ influence, the patient (as a child) could then lead an entire different life inside their head, working toward and fulfilling their dying wish themselves. And if all goes well, they would wake up, having lived the dream life they never had, and embrace a brief moment of blissful fulfillment.Shortly after, they’d draw their last breath.-------I highly suggest you watch a playthrough of to the moon either before or after reading this fic! the story is super good :D
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Eda Clawthorne & Lilith Clawthorne
Comments: 25
Kudos: 60





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> howdy yall! i am very excited to share this new work with you guys. its been in the back of my head for a longggg while, and i spent a little over a month putting everything together. im still in the midst of editing, so i'll update a new chapter when im finished editing it (updates should be fairly frequent. feel free to yell at me if it's been more than a week).
> 
> warning: i cried a lot while writing this. i hope you enjoy, and don't be afraid to give me constructive criticism. :)

Dr. Edalyn and Lilith Clawthorne have rather peculiar jobs: They give people another chance to live. Literally. 

There exists a technology that allows doctors to weave artificial memories, such that a patient can request attempts to alter their mind, and wake up with memories of things that didn’t actually happen. However, since these new memories are permanent, the conflict between them and the existing authentic memories clash in such a way that it ceases the person’s ability to properly function.

Thus, the operation is only done to people on their deathbeds, to fulfill what they wish they had done with their lives… but didn’t.

But creating a new memory is not as simple as pressing a button. The technology requires the doctors to step into the memories of the patient, which are reconstructed as interactive scenes. The doctors then gradually traverse backwards through memories of the patient’s life until they reach childhood — at which point, the wish of the patient in present time would be transferred over.

Along with the doctors’ influence, the patient (as a child) could then lead an entire different life inside their head, working toward and fulfilling their dying wish themselves. And if all goes well, they would wake up, having lived the dream life they never had, and embrace a brief moment of blissful fulfillment.

Shortly after, they’d draw their last breath.

Every once in a while, there comes a life that is rather peculiar.

This particular story follows Dr. Edalyn and Lilith Clawthorne's attempt to fulfill the dream of the dying elderly woman, Luz. In their mission to do so, they traverse backwards through the woman’s memories, unfolding her curious life story before their eyes. With each step back in time, a new fragment of Luz’s past is revealed. And as the two doctors piece together the puzzled events that spanned a life time, they seek to find out just why the frail old woman chose her dying wish to be what it is.

And Luz's last wish is, of course... to go to the moon.


	2. Chapter One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just some notes before the story kicks off:
> 
> i am not shipping lilith and eda. that is gross and disgusting and i will not have that in this fic. although in the video game, watts and rosalene were a popular pairing, and lilith and eda replace them, i am not shipping them, they are sisters.

Act One

_“I’ve never told anyone, but... I always thought they were lighthouses.”_

\-------

_“They can take you back, Luz._

_They'll give you a second chance, and they’ll let you relive your life._

_All the way… from the very beginning._

_Change one thing, fulfill one wish._

_You know what you’d wish for, don’t you?_

_But just remember…_

_It will be the last thing you ever do.”_

\-------

“Goddammit, Edalyn,” Lilith grunts, stepping out of the car, hood demolished. “You couldn’t have tried to maybe, I don’t know, _not_ hit the tree?”

“I swerved to avoid the squirrel! And it was dark!” Eda shouts indignantly. 

Glancing behind the car toward the road, Lilith shakes her head. “...You hit the squirrel anyway. And the tree, for that matter.”

Eda shrugs. “It’s a company car, they can figure it out,” she says. Lilith rolls her eyes.

“Alright, whatever you say, Edalyn. We should head inside to meet our client. It’s not like we have time on our hands.”

“Two days seems like a lot of time to me.”

“Not when you’re on your deathbed, I would imagine. Be sure to grab the equipment.” Behind her, Eda grumbles.

They continue marching up the side of the mountain, following a narrow well-worn path framed with trees. The hike is longer than you would think, considering how close the mansion looks, but the path winds around and around, increasing it’s length significantly.

The pair reaches the top of the mountain, met with the house they’d been trekking to. The building is large and looks like it was built recently. _Can’t be more than a few years old_ , they think. Lilith's hand raps on the door. Shuffling can be heard from the other side, it sounds like a pair of children. A few moments later, a young woman - probably in her twenties, by the looks of it - answers the door. She sighs in relief at the sight of the two sisters and gestures for them to come into the house. Lilith steps forward easily, while Eda struggles to carry the heavy box of equipment through the door frame.

“Thank you so much for coming, especially on such short notice,” the woman says, closing the door behind them. “I’m Skara.”

“It’s perfectly alright, ma’am,” Eda says. “I tend to be bad at predicting deaths as well.” Lilith nudges her with her elbow.

“We’re Drs. Lilith and Eda Clawthorne, by the way, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Lilith introduces, reaching her hand out to shake, which Skara gladly accepts. “Are you the patient's daughter?”

“Oh no, I’m just Luz’s caretaker. But the children you see running around,” she gestures behind her, “those are my children, Sarah and Tommy.”

“They certainly seem like brats to me,” Eda grumbles.

“I’m presuming Luz is our patient?” Lilith asks, ignoring Eda’s remark.

“Yes, she is currently upstairs with the healer. Come with me,” she says, and the two women follow her up the stairs. 

The stairs lead up to a room of linoleum tile, that connects to what appears to be the master bedroom of the house. Eda pauses for a second, panting. “Could you perhaps hurry it up?” Lilith reprimands. 

“You’re not the one carrying something the weight of a small meteorite,” the older woman replies. 

Eda and Lilith step inside and see the patient - Luz - laying down on a queen-sized bed. An older gentleman, presumably the healer, sits by the bed, monitoring Luz’s heart rate. Eda sets down the box with a grunt on the other side of the room, nearby a smaller hospital bed.

“She’s unresponsive at this point, but she’s still consciously hanging on. I would hurry if I were you, it’s hard to say how much time she has left.” They nod.

“Ready to set up?” Skara asks. Lilith nods, beginning to set up the contraption. Eda takes the opportunity to take a look around the room. There's a selection of paintings on the walls. One is of a lighthouse, another of a woman with green hair holding a yellow and blue… _was that an origami rabbit?_ The other two displayed an animal and a painting of a few people - a family - respectively. _These are an odd selection of pictures…_ Eda ponders. _What is its significance?_

“Edalyn,” Lilith calls, snapping Eda out of her trance. “The machine is ready to plug in.”

Eda approaches her sister, hands in the pockets of her lab coat. “What are you waiting for? Plug it in, Lily.”

Skara speaks up. “...Are you sure a common household outlet will be sufficient?”

“Psh, we’re the professionals,” Eda scoffs. “We know what we’re doing.”

As soon as Lilith plugs in the machine, the power in the house dies. Eda lets out a bit of an “erm” sound before the power completely comes back on again. Lilith and Eda breathe a sigh of relief.

“Standard procedures, just keeping you on your toes, heh heh.” Skara nods skeptically.

The healer interrupts the conversation. “It looks to me like Luz has about a day or two left. If you’re going to get wish-granting, I would start now.” Lilith hums in agreement.

“So, you guys can grant any wish?”

“Yep. Or at least, we can try. It depends on the wish, really. It’s not guaranteed our success.”

“Yeah, but don’t worry, we always succeed because we’re awesome.” Eda interrupts. Lilith ignores her.

“So, what is Luz’s wish?” Lilith asks the present company.

Skara hesitates a bit before replying. “She…” she pauses. “She wants to go to the moon.”

Eda raises both her eyebrows in surprise. “Damn, and I thought these geezers couldn’t get any crazier,” she mutters.

“What do you know about Luz?”

“Honestly?” Skara shrugs. “Not much. She’s hardly spoken a few words to me since I started working here two years ago, a few weeks after her wife died.”

“Probably would have known more if I was her paperboy,” Eda remarks.

“I mean, if you would like to know more, you’re welcome to look around the house. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind since she signed for you two. I’ll have Sarah and Tommy show you around the house.” Lilith nods her thanks to Skara’s statement, ignoring Eda.

“I’ll look around,” she says. “Edalyn? Would you care to come with?”

“No thanks, I’m busy leaving a butt print in this chair. Thanks for the offer, though.” Lilith rolls her eyes, making her way down the stairs.

When she reaches the bottom of the stairs, she finds two children sitting at a piano - Sarah and Tommy - she thinks. She approaches them.

“Hello.”

“Who are you?”

Lilith is taken aback at their sharp greeting at first but adjusts to it. “I am Dr. Lilith Clawthorne... I’m here to help Mrs. Noceda-Blight. Your mother said you could show me around?”

“Sure,” the boy - presumably Tommy - says. “For a price.”

Lilith tilts her head. “What kind of price?”

“ _One trillion dollars!!_ ” Sarah exclaims.

“Er… I’m not sure that’s really in the realm of possibility.”

“Eh, whatever. Could you get us a candy cane, then? Mom keeps them out of reach on top of the cabinets.”

“I… don’t think I should be stealing from your mother.” The children pout. “But, tell you what, if you show me around, I’ll get Edalyn to buy you all the candy canes you want.”

“Really?” Tommy asks. “Even if we ask for like, ten?”

“Or twelve?” Sarah continues.

Lilith sighs. “No more than five, they’re bad calories.”

“Five is still more than one…” Tommy says. He looks over to Sarah as if to silently negotiate the situation with her. She nods.

“Sounds like a deal, Miss Doctor Lady.” Lilith lets out a breath. _Finally_.

“If you want a tour of the house, we’re going to give you the bestest tour there ever was. We’re gonna show you the coolest parts of this place. Follow us!” With that, the children hop off the piano bench and start leading Lilith through the house. 

“There’s a weird room in the basement, but it’s locked. We know where the key is though. It’s in a thick book in the study. You’ll have to get it for us since you’re tall.” Lilith sighs.

“I suppose that can be arranged…”

She is led by Sarah and Tommy into what is presumably the study. Across the room is a large bookshelf. Sure enough, there is a book about as wide as her hand on the top shelf. She reaches for it and pulls it down. From the description on the back of the book, it looks to be a poorly written vampire love story. She flips through the pages, and a key falls into her hands. She turns back to the children. "Is this what you were referring to?"

"Yeah! It's the key to the weird room!" Tommy says. "Come with us, we'll show you."

_Why am I allowing these children to subject me to breaking and entering?_

Sarah and Tommy lead the doctor toward the basement next to the study. At first, it just appears to be a normal basement, but behind a shelf lies a wooden door. Lilith tries the handle, but it doesn't budge. She inserts the key to the lock and the door swings open to reveal a room full of nothing but paper rabbits. _Edalyn was right,_ she thinks. _This lady_ is _crazy._

"There are more," Sarah says. "In the lighthouse."

Lilith nods noncommittally. She picks up a stuffed dog and takes a look at it. It's old and worn, so it's probably been in possession of these people for a long time. But why is it sealed away in a room full of paper rabbits?

"Take me to the lighthouse."

\-------

Lighthouses are taller than Lilith remembers. _Why are there so many stairs?_ _And how can Sarah and Tommy stand this?_

Once the three reach the top, it leads into a small room consisting of the light of the lighthouse, and, as promised, more paper rabbits. One sits on a stool near the edge of the room, however, this one is two-toned yellow and blue. _What..?_

However, her thoughts are interrupted by her cell phone ringing. The caller ID reads “Edalyn” and Lilith picks up the phone. “Yes?”   
“Hey, sis, the machine is ready to set up. We’re on a bit of a time crunch, so I would be making my way back from… wherever you are.”

“Thank you, Edalyn. I’ll be back shortly.”

\-------

“Oh, why don’t you just be late another half hour, not like we’ve got a dying client or anything,” Eda spats once Lilith enters the room.

“Sorry, I got... caught up in something.”

“I got caught up in something too. It’s called our job.”

“I’m late just this one time and you decided to milk it,” Lilith sighs. “Are we at least ready to go?”

“Of course we are. Because I’m competent. Your helmets on the couch, chop-chop.”

Lilith looks toward the healer. “Go on, I’ll watch over her physical state while you go through the procedure,” he assures. She nods. Luz has a helmet on her head similar to the one on the couch.

“Hey, before you begin,” Skara says. “Can I just ask… how it works? Do you just write her another life like a novel?”

Lilith shakes her head. “No. We can’t just make up memories out of thin air. It’s not really us doing the work, it’s mostly the machine. But in a nutshell, we travel through her memories to as early as possible. When we do, we would then transfer her registered desire of going to the moon to her ‘past self’, giving her the drive to work toward that goal.”

“And with what information we’ve been given, the machine replays her memories, but with the desire as a forefront,” Eda adds.

Skara tilts her head. “So, you’ll be depending on her fulfilling her wish based on her desire to do so? Don’t most people have that?”

“That’s because, in the real world, people’s ambitions fluctuate… and fade. People start things with a passion, but eventually, they lose the initial drive and slow down. But imagine if you locked onto that initial push through your _entire life_ , never wavering.” Skara looks skeptical. “...It’s more powerful than it seems.”

“That being said,” Eda says, “no ambitions gonna help a dead woman. We’d better get started.”

“Ah, yes, sorry,” Skara ducks her head.

Lilith places the helmet on her head like she’s done many times before. Eda follows suit.

“Alright,” Eda starts. “Here we go.”

\-------

Memory jumping is always a weird experience, even if you’ve done it as many times as Lilith and Eda. It’s surreal.

“This is the most recent memory,” Lilith says. “Disable speech for all except Luz.”

Eda nods, switching it off. “Done. Let’s get ‘er.”

Most things around the bedroom are the same, sans the massive machine on the desk. Most of the pictures are hazy, and a lot of areas are missing. It’s like looking through a cloud of smoke all the time.

The pair makes their way down the stairs. The house looks the same, although the caretaker and her children are nowhere to be seen. A single piece of sheet music rests on the piano. Lilith picks it up to read. It’s titled “For Amity”, and the melody consists of mostly the same two notes over and over again. The composer is Luz Noceda-Blight.

“What kind of song is this?” Eda questions. “It’s just two notes repeated over and over…”

Lilith shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter. We have to find Luz.”

“She doesn’t appear to be in the house,” Eda muses. “Maybe we should check outside? There doesn’t appear to be much we can explore in this memory, most of the rooms are torn off.”

“Yes… that’s probably a good idea. Since we started in the house, however, Luz can’t be far off.”

“Hey, have you noticed that none of the clocks tick in here?”

“Huh,” Lilith thinks. “I don’t think they did even outside the memory.”

“That’s strange..”

“Let’s move on.”

The air outside the house is cool, like an autumn evening. If it were any other time, they would have stopped to admire the leaves. But a life is on the line.

“Is there a place that Luz would be?” Eda asks.

Lilith doesn’t answer. She simply nods her head subtly and begins her descent down the hill following the path toward the lighthouse lookout. The walk is just as she remembers when she went down with Sarah and Tommy. The pair reaches a cliff, and Luz sits on a bench not too far from it, looking out at the lighthouse. Her hair is gray, reaching down barely past her shoulders. Although her state is fragile, she smiles at the lighthouse down below. Skara is with her, as well.

“Luz?” Lilith calls out. Nothing happens. “Wait, hold on. Edalyn, turn on speech and visibility.” Eda does as instructed and Lilith calls out again.

Skara and Luz whip their heads around in surprise. Luz stands up, smiling a radiant smile. “What a surprise… we don’t get many visitors around here.”

“I am Dr. Lilith Clawthorne, and this is…”

“Dr. Doolittle.” Lilith blinks.

“Dr. Edalyn Clawthorne…” She turns back to Luz. “Are you familiar with the Isles Agency of Life Generation?”

Luz blinks a few times. “Are you two from the agency? How convenient, I was just thinking about calling them. Skara, could you fetch some tea for our guests?” Skara nods and hurries off toward the house, but freezes. Luz looks at her in confusion.

“Actually, you’ve already called us,” As Lilith speaks those words, Skara disappears. Luz reels back in shock. “We’re here to fulfill our contract from the relative future.” Luz backs away even more.

“Careful there,” Eda warns. “If you fall off the cliff we’re gonna have to reload this memory.” 

“Watch it, Edalyn, show some respect,” Lilith whispers. “We need the memory’s cooperation.”

“But if worse comes to worst we can just reload the memory. It’s just a simulation.”

“And waste precious time like that?”

“You…”

Luz smiles. “You’re here to take me to the moon, aren’t you?”

“Yes. We are.”

Luz looks away sadly. “I suppose I had a good run.”

“Not good enough, it seems.”

“So, can you do it?” the older woman asks. “Can you take me to the moon?”

“Well, _we_ can’t. But you might be able to.”

“Why do you want to go?” Eda asks. “To the moon.” Luz falters.

“...I don’t know.” 

Lilith steps forward with nothing but kindness. “It’s okay… you can tell us. It’s actually essential for us to help you to go there.”

“Do you want the fame?” Eda asks, confusion in her voice. “The money? You‘ve gotta have a motive, right?”

“I’m sorry, but I really don’t know. I just,” Luz looks out at the lighthouse then back up to the moon. “I just… do.”

_I can already tell that this is gonna be a pain in the ass,_ Eda thinks.

“Nevertheless, here’s what we can do, Luz,” Lilith starts. “We need to get to your childhood, but it’s too distant to get to in one memory hop. Thus, we will need to traverse backward through your memories in gradual leaps backwards.

“Which you’ve given us the permission to do, in the relative future.”

“Once we can get all the way back, leaving waypoints so we can get from there to here quickly, get everything sorted out, we will return here. That’s when we need your influence to convince your childhood self to want to be an astronaut.”

“...Or to get on a giant catapult.”

“That is, you’ll need to have more to say than just ‘I don’t know’.”

“As long as you can take me to the moon,” Luz says. Lilith and Eda nod.

“Now, in order to leap to a memory, we need an item that is of importance to you. Do you have something, like a memento, of that nature you can lend to us to get us started?” The older woman nods and pulls out a multicolored rabbit. Lilith nods. “That’ll do.”

“Well, shall we?” Eda asks her sister. She nods. “Then let’s be on our way.”

“Wait,” Luz interrupts. “What about... my… _private_ memories?”

“We’ll try not to violate what we can avoid,” Lilith reassures. “But in some cases, it can’t be helped.” Luz nods.

And with that, the Clawthorne sisters disappear into a blinding white light.

\-------

The next memory they enter is still not too far back. Luz still has striking gray hair, and they’re in the same house they were in before. The only difference is the paper rabbits that flood the floor, and a stuffed dog on top of the baby grand piano. Luz is sitting at the bench, playing the piano.

“Turn off visibility and interactivity,” Lilith instructs. “It’d be messy to be seen.”

“Yeah, Yeah, I got it,” Eda huffs. She looks around. “Say, what’s with all these… rabbits? This is freaking me out, we probably should have checked her record for psychopathy first.”

Suddenly, Luz stops playing.

“Woah… did she hear me?”

“That’s impossible. It must just be a part of the memory.” As soon as those words leave her lips, the old woman bangs on the keys of the piano.

“I stand by my point.”

Lilith shakes her head. “Quit your blathering and find a memento to hop from.” Eda nods and starts looking around the house.

The house looks average from the outside, but the weird details make it all the more strange. The clock moves, but it’s soundless. Not to mention the crazy amount of paper rabbits and strange-looking dog plush.

Lilith traverses up the stairs. Another version of Luz stands in the middle of the room, but when she gets closer, Luz moves elsewhere. Around the room, there is a glass jar of something labeled “apple blood”, a copy of a book titled _The Good Witch Azura_ , and a ton of medical journals are displayed on the bookshelf.

Yet another version of Luz stands by the paintings Eda observed earlier. The paintings are blurred and hazy due to the memory hopping. Next to her is a vase of flowers… they’re beautiful. They’re mainly blue, and they look like little teacups. Thorns surround them, making the activity of picking them rather dangerous. Little glyphs lie in the middle of the flower.

“Lilith!” Eda calls from downstairs. “I think I’ve found the next memento. It’s an umbrella. It has a very emotional aura surrounding it. Couldn’t tell you why, but it does.” Lilith heads down the stairs to find her partner holding a black umbrella.

“Let’s be on our way, then. The clock continues to tick.”

“Well, actually, in this case-”

“Shut up. Activate the memento.”

\-------

The new scene the sisters are met with is at the base of the lighthouse. The light is off. It’s raining, and Luz is sitting there, holding the black umbrella over something. Upon closer inspection, it appears to be a grave. It reads “In memory of Amity Noceda-Blight”. A single flower sits on the grass below it. Luz is crying silently. The rain drips down her back, the umbrella preoccupied. A black cloak adorns her, and a pink pendant is wrapped around her shoulders, which she clutches in her hands. The old stuffed dog is behind her. Perhaps to keep her company?

“I’ll never forgive that weird-looking dog creature for existing.”

“Yeah, there’s not enough room for the two of you.”

“C’mon,” Eda grumbles. “Maybe the memento is inside the lighthouse.” Lilith laughs slightly but follows her sister inside anyway. She pauses when she hears a voice.

“It’s finished, Amity,” Luz whispers. “Like you, I’ll be able to watch over her every day. She won’t be alone anymore.” She sniffs. “I may never understand why, but I stayed true to your wish. I’m sure Camilia is grateful to you, too. But, when I’m gone...” she pauses. “Who’s going to watch over _us_?”

_Visibility on_ , she commands, walking over to the woman.

“..Who are you?” Luz asks.

“I was just passing through.”

A beat. 

“Was she your wife?”

Luz hesitates for a moment. “Yes. Her name was Amity.”

“That’s a special name.”

A pause.

“It didn’t need to happen… She didn’t need to do it. But she…” Luz stops for a moment, taking in a sharp breath. “You wouldn’t understand. _I_ don’t even understand.”

Lilith says nothing. She walks backward, turning off visibility. She goes to follow her sister up the stairs, but Eda is still there, waiting.

“Who’s Camilia?” she asks.

Lilith shrugs. “I don’t know. But she must be someone they cared about. She talks about her with such… love.”

“When I was up at the top, I found the memento. It’s the weird dog plush.”

They climb up the stairs, the same stairs she was led up by Sarah and Tommy. When they reach the room at the top, the light turns on, and another Luz sits there, defeated. She looks away from the doctors, though she can’t see them. Lilith activates the memento, and they leave the memory with another flash of light.


	3. Chapter Two

“After we pay for your operation, we’ll have just enough left for it. So don’t you even worry.”

“White lie. That’s what you call it, right?”

“No, no, Amity, I’m sure we can jus-”

“Stop it, Luz. I don’t like it when you lie. I calculated our finances; I know what it’s like. Why do you try to convince me?” 

“We need the money for your medical bills, Amity! I understand that Camilia means a lot to you, but this… This is just too much. I mean, she- she isn’t even-”

“Luz,” Amity says, looking to her from her place on the bed. Her hair is left undone, its brunette roots cascading down into a beautiful shade of mint green. Her golden eyes look into Luz’s chocolate brown ones. “Do you know what makes me happy?”

Luz sits down next to her. “...What?”

“Do you, Luz?” Luz stays silent. “Well, whether you know or not, I just, hope you can help me with it.”

“Ami…”

“When the papers for my treatments get here,” Amity says, her voice breaking. “I will not sign them. What you do with our money is up to you, but if you would grant my wish, I want you to use it to finish building our house. And then, for every day that you live there, I want you to watch over her. Visit her. Speak to her. Comfort her. I don’t want her to be alone anymore.”

“And what about you?” Luz asks, shyly.

“I’ll be happy.” The girl on the bed smiles at her wife. “Luz?”

“Yes?”

“I made this.” Amity hands Luz a blue and yellow paper rabbit. Luz holds it in her hands gently, like it’s a child. “Tell me what it is.”

“What?”

“Just tell me what it is.”

Luz hesitates. “It’s a rabbit, like all the others you made.”

“What else?” she asks. She looks sad, defeated.

“Um, it’s made of paper?” Amity encourages her to go on. “Its body is yellow, and the rest is blue.”

“Good, what else?”

The brown-haired girl sighs. “Look, Amity, I don’t think-.” She pauses. “I wrote a song. It’s for you.”

“Okay.”

“Well,” Luz shrugs sheepishly. “Would you like to hear it?” Amity nods, smiling weakly.

“You didn’t have to bring the piano in here just for that. I can hear you just fine with the door open.” Luz pauses on her way to the piano and shuts her eyes. After a moment, she closes the distance to the instrument and takes a seat at the bench.

“It’s called ‘[For Amity](https://youtu.be/9QfPDmzpC2Q)’.”

The girl in question giggles. “Pff- we were always such a cliché, weren’t we?” 

“It-! It’s just a placeholder!” Luz says defensively.

\-------

“Who is this ‘Camilia’ they keep referencing? If she’s so important, shouldn’t we have seen her in Luz’s late memories?”

“I guess she didn’t keep her promise after all,” Eda shrugs.

“Unless…”

“‘Unless…’? Unless what?”

“Nevermind,” Lilith says, listening to the music being played on the piano. “Hey, that’s the same song the kids were playing when we walked in, right?”

“I guess she taught them?”

“I suppose so,” Lilith sighs. “I’m going to head on, I already have my memory links. Would you like to come with or look around a bit?”

“I’ll stay,” Eda says. “Go on ahead, I’ll catch up with you.” Lilith nods, her body already beginning to fade.

Eda looks around. The paper rabbit still sits on the bed, forgotten already. There are so many…

Next to the rabbit sits the same  _ Good Witch Azura  _ book from before. Or, er, later? Eda was never too good at this memory hopping stuff. Eda heads downstairs, the music still flooding the house.

When she reaches the ground floor, she hears more voices. One of them clearly Luz, the other a new one she hasn’t heard yet. It sounds like a man's voice, if she had to guess. It rings through the hallway.

“I’m telling you, there’s just no way.”

The witch with the deep voice has dark gray hair. His eyes carry a kind expression, but the wrinkles around them display his tiredness.

“But, we have to get it up there, Gus. What if we take it apart?” Luz asks the man across from her. From the looks of it, they are attempting to move a piano. Eda scoffs. _Up those flights of stairs?_ _You’d have to be insane._

The man sighs. “Look at us, Luz. We aren’t exactly at the ripe age of piano moving. If this really means that much to you, I can pay some people from the construction coven to move this. I can’t help saving that house for you, so this is the least I can do.” 

Luz only nods.

\-------

“You made it, finally,” Lilith says as Eda comes into view.

“Sorry, I just got caught up in something.”

“Well, it's about time we got caught up with Luz’s memories. Come now, there’s more down here.”

The pair walks down the path that should lead to Luz’s house. However, when they reach its location, it is merely an outline. A few tools are strewn about, and there are piles of wood everywhere. Eda snorts.

“I bet they saw this cliff and thought it wasn’t dangerous enough without people living on it.”

“Shut up, Edalyn.”

Luz sits near the front of the house, looking awfully tired. They look as though they just got done doing some work on the house. The sound of waves crashing against rocks complete the atmosphere. A witch with dark hair approaches Luz. She wears a pair of glasses, and her face is the kindest that Eda has ever seen.

“Gus called and said I should come.” Luz stays silent. The witch tries again. “I brought you some apple blood. It’s your favorite, right?” Still, no reply. “...I heard about Amity. Will she be okay?”

Luz finally speaks up. “Her illness was just diagnosed in its late stage. Fortunately, it’s treatable. But the medical bills…” She sighs. “We can’t afford to finish building this house, Willow. We can barely afford to pay for her treatment. I’m just relieved that she’ll be okay, but you don’t know how much this place means to her. She’s going to be heartbroken.” The other witch - Willow - looks to her with sadness in her eyes.

“I’d help, but Boshca and I have barely been getting by since the shop closed.” She sighs. “What are you going to do now?”

“I’m,” Luz gulps. “I’m going to tell her that we can make it. I’m going to tell her that we can afford everything. I don’t want her to do anything crazy..”

“Luz, you shouldn’t lie to her. She doesn’t like it when you lie.”

“You don’t understand, Willow. If she found out, I’m not sure which she’d choose.”

“So what? If she chooses not to save herself for the sake of this place, then so be it. It’s her choice. She’s a smart witch. She knows what she’s doing. It’s what she really wants. Luz… let her choose.”

“Do you think this is all about her, Willow? What about me? Don’t I get a say in anything? After all these years, am I not allowed to be selfish even once?” Luz sighs. “I don’t want to be alone, Willow. I’m not going to let her die.”

“Luz, I don’t think you have that option-”

“I don’t care,” Luz says, standing up.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to pick something from this cliff to bring back to her. It’ll at least give her some comfort.” Despite what she says, she doesn’t go anywhere.

“Luz…”

There's a moment of silence where no one says anything. Finally, Willow sets down a worn music box. “Gus wanted me to give you this. He said it’s called ‘[Everything’s Alright](https://youtu.be/_ZWy6H3UP5U)’.”

“It isn’t.”

Luz walks off toward the cliff where Lilith and Eda were. The sisters look out at the scene she left behind her. Willow continues to stand there, staring into space.

“...This bottle of apple blood is the memento.”

_ Luz’s favorite. _

\-------

The scene shifts to Luz and Amity sitting with Willow and Gus at a table in a restaurant. Luz is smiling, drinking a pint of apple blood.

“So, you guys are really going for it, huh?” Gus inquires, looking toward the couple.

“Yep!” Luz grins. “The construction’s starting in just a few months. It’s a bit of a squeeze, we had some money stuff to finish before we could start. But we’ll make do,” she finishes, looking over at Amity, who simply smiles in adoration.

“It’s so great that you two are building your dream house in such a lovely location. And without the help of the construction coven too! You guys are so brave,” Willow remarks.

“You had your wedding at that lighthouse near there all those years ago, didn’t you? It was such a lovely place. Beautiful service, too.”   
“That’s not all that’s special about it. We have a long history with that place.” Amity smiles.

“It certainly is a nice change of pace to have some good news at a get-together for once! Cheers and congratulations, you two.”

“Cheers, I’ll drink to that, bro,” Luz says. The table goes quiet.

“Is this some human joke..?” Amity asks.

“Uh…”

“Be right back, I’m going to get some fresh air,” Willow declares, standing up and pushing her chair in. 

“Me too,” Amity says, joining the witch, leaving Luz and Gus at the table on their own. The pair looks at each other, snickering once Willow and Amity are out of earshot.”

“Well, Luz, it’s sure been a while.”

“Hasn’t it? Who knew how hard it would be to come back to the Boiling Isles nowadays?” The pair shares a laugh.

Once the laughter dies down, Gus asks Luz a question. “So did you tell Amity that thing from back then?”

A beat. “I did.”

“How did she take it?”

“For the most part, she took it well… but something is bugging me about it.” Gus raises an eyebrow. “Ever since the incident, she’s been making these strange rabbits out of paper.”

“Oh! I’ve heard of this. Origami rabbits, right?” Luz nods.

“Yes. Lots of them.”

“I learned about origami during my time in the Human Appreciation Society. It seemed fine to me… what’s wrong with it?”

“I don't think it's the same thing. She's been doing nothing but making the same rabbits, day in and day out. Our house is literally filled with them now.”

“Didn’t the healers say that something like that is a common trait with Amity’s condition?” Gus asks, confusion in his voice.

“Yeah, but something doesn’t feel right this time. When I ask her about it, she never answers. Instead, she gets this distant look in her eyes… It’s almost as if she wants something from me. And the strange thing is, I feel like I owe her something, too.” Gus hums.

“Have you asked Willow? Or the healers? Boscha, even?”

“Yes, all of them. Willow and Boscha said they asked her, but got nothing out of it.”

“Well, I'm certainly not one to inquire, but I'll tell you this: I've known you since high school, and you're notorious for overthinking. You're probably just imagining things. There's no need to get too worked up over it, I’d imagine. Who knows, maybe Edric and Emira are just pulling a really elaborate prank on you.”

Luz shakes her head. “Usually when someone says that, something's always wrong. But I'll give you the benefit of doubt. You're probably right. You’re one of the smartest witches I know.” Gus laughs.

“Wait, so even Luz had no idea what was up with the rabbits?” Eda asks.

“Forget the rabbits, we’ve got more important things to attend to. It’s a confined memory, and there’s no sign of a memento anywhere.”

“Eh,” Eda shrugs. “I’ll just take one from her.”

Lilith looks at her sister strangely but does nothing otherwise. “Good luck with that.”

\-------

“How can Luz  _ stand _ the taste of apple blood?” Eda grumbles, arms clutching her stomach.

“It was your idea to try and get the memento by sharing a pint of the stuff with her.”

“Ah, screw you.”

Lilith shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter, we’ve made it to the next memory. Are you ready for this?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry, this chapter is a lil shorter lol. the next chapter will be longer!! hope u enjoyed
> 
> find me on tumblr   
> @a-sad-song-on-a-rainy-day


	4. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hehe double update since the last one was short and so was this one so :)

“ _ Holy Emperor Belos! _ ”

“I thought you didn’t believe in the Emperor.”

“Who cares?!” Eda shouts. “We’re like, 20 billion elixirs off the ground and standing on a damn flag pole!” Sure enough, the pair of doctors are standing on top of Luz’s lighthouse.

Lilith shakes her head. “Just jump down, it’s not like you can be hurt here.”

“Are you kidding?! It’s a fricken sky-dive! You can’t stay on here, you can’t get off- Titan, I hate when this happens.”

And with that, Lilith pushes Eda off the tower.

“ _ Lilith, what the fu-! _ "

“...Wuss.”

\-------

“Why would they abandon her like this?” Amity asks.

“I suppose… she’s just no longer needed.”

“No longer… needed?”

Luz shrugs. “By ships, I mean. You know how it is, now that everything has GPS and all.” Amity continues to stare at the lighthouse. Luz pauses and comes to a decision. “Say, Ami.. if this means that much to you, I’ve been thinking. If we save up for a few years, we may be able to build a house here. Sure, it would be an investment, but it would be worth it to see you sm-” Amity crushes her wife in a hug.

“We’d be able to see her from the window! In the morning, at night, we’d always be nearby! And we could walk here whenever we wanted! I’d be able to watch over her every day!” Luz smiles fondly at the woman in front of her.

“Yeah, we will.”

“Good for them,” Lilith says, watching the scene from afar.

“You gotta be kidding me. You remember what happens, don't you? It's like watching a train wreck,” Eda scoffs.

“The ending isn't any more important than any of the moments leading to it. The important thing is that over here, they are happy. Let’s move on.”

“Wait a minute,” Eda stops. “They were referring to the  _ lighthouse _ as Camilia, weren’t they?”

“I suppose so.”

“Then, that Amity... She declined treatment for the sake of a lighthouse? Isn't that a bit too extreme?”

The younger woman shrugs. “I’ve seen weirder.”

“Me too, but ugh, I can never wrap my head around it.”

“It doesn’t matter. She's not our client.”

A moment of silence passes over them.

“Hey, I think I found the next memento. It’s another one of those paper rabbit things,” Lilith says, holding out the paper creature.

“Seriously? I’ve had enough of those to last a lifetime, believe me.”

“Well, you better get used to it. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot more of them,” Lilith says under her breath. “Are you ready?”

Eda groans. “Whatever. Let’s just be on with it.”

\-------

“Ami?” Luz calls out to the house. Holding a paper rabbit in her hands, she walks down the staircase. The baby grand piano lays off to the side, away from its usual residence against the wall.  _ How did they ever manage to move that thing upstairs..?  _ Eda ponders.

“Amity?” Luz says again. She steps into a room off to the side. Amity is sitting at the desk, her hair just barely above her shoulders. The brown-haired girl tilts her head.

“You went out for a haircut this early in the morning?” When her wife remains silent, Luz tries again. “What are you making there?” she asks, gesturing to the folded paper.

“Rabbits,” she replies simply. “Did you see the one I left for you?”

“Yeah.”

“Tell me about that rabbit.”

“Huh?”

“Describe it for me.”

Luz thinks for a moment. “Erm… it was yellow.” Amity nods her head.

“What else?”

“Well, it was a bit puffy,” Luz says. Her tone of voice is tired, but she also sounds like she’s genuinely trying.

“And?” Amity prompts.

Luz raises her arms, shrugging. “It’s just a paper rabbit. I don’t know how else to describe it.” She pauses. “You’re acting strange, Amity. Is something wrong?” The aforementioned witch simply sighs, saying nothing. “Amity…?”

“I don’t know about you, but this is giving me intense déjà vu,” Eda grumbles.

“I think I know of her condition, but this is still odd, even for that.”

“You think she’s…?”

Lilith looks at her sister. “Do you?”

Eda only shrugs. “Who knows? Besides, like you said, she’s not our client.”

Lilith continues to look at the couple. “Yeah…” 

\-------

The pair ends up on the side of a mountain in the next memory hop. The house isn’t yet built, there isn’t even evidence of construction starting. 

The couple is found sitting on the bench that overlooks the lighthouse -  _ Camilia _ . Lilith and Eda only pick up the stray ends of the conversation.

“Is that why you did it?” Amity asks softly. She isn’t looking at her partner, but off in space.

“Yeah,” Luz sighs.

“...What about now?”

“Look, it was a long time ago, Ami. It’s not relevant anymore, of course, but Willow thought I should tell you. The truth, I mean.” She takes a deep breath in. “I shouldn’t have tainted our first meeting like that.” Amity doesn’t reply, but pulls out a ball from behind the bench. She hands it to her wife. “Is.. is that a hacky sack? Why do you have it?”

“Can you throw it as far as where Camilia’s at?”

“I mean, I can try.”

“Will you?”

Luz takes the ball from Amity and chucks it as far as she can. The green haired witch runs over to the edge, almost tripping over and falling into the emptiness down below. “Ami! Are you insane? Be careful!” Amity sits back down without a word.

_ This memory doesn’t seem too far from the previous one. They’re probably connected in some way. But how? _

\-------

Luz is sitting at a table with Gus and Willow, along with two other green haired witches. Twins, by the looks of it. Their hair is a considerably darker shade of green than that of Amity’s, but the facial structure is similar. Siblings, perhaps?

“Hey, Luz, look, everyone who has it is different. We share the same syndrome, but we don’t have the same head.”

“I know, Emira, I know. But, I can’t help but feel this immense desire to help her. She’s a lot more aloof than she was before. Even when we’re in the same room, she’s never really… there. I hope this isn’t selfish to say, but... I just want the girl I used to know back.” The green haired girl leans back in her chair, processing it all. 

“Well, I can’t speak for her, but many of us do long for connections. Though, being able to articulate it is a different story altogether. Just because she struggles to express it, doesn’t mean she doesn’t feel it. She’s still her, just…” she sighs.

“Sometimes you just have to have faith that she cares, alright?” The brother says.

“Don’t I know it,” Luz chuckles.

“I know.”

“But,” Gus speaks up. “Why are you… you know, better at it? I mean, don’t you have the same condition. I hope that’s not invasive-”

Emira raises a hand. “It’s fine,” she sighs. “For one, I was diagnosed with it at a young age. I’ve been living with it all my life, I have infinitely more experience than Mittens has.”

_ ‘Mittens’? _

__ “I’ve learned how to act…  _ normal _ . Or, neurotypical, I guess. It’s a harsh world we live in.” Luz nods. “But Amity? She’s never tried doing any of that. Or, she did, back when we were kids. But… even the strongest of wills can break.”

The brown haired witch chuckles. “She was one of the strongest people I knew. And she still is, it’s just… all new.”

\-------

“This is still one of my favorites.”

Luz giggles from across the room. They appear to be in a library of some sort, although it’s smaller, and made to look like more of a home than an extra set of shelves. “They finished the  _ Azura  _ series like, ten years ago, Amity.” The green haired witch blushes.

“I know! I just… I like it. It’s comforting. Reminds me of simpler times.” The witch looks off into the distance, reminiscent of something from long ago. And Luz…

Luz looks at her like she’s the most beautiful girl in the world.

“How amazing young love can be,” Lilith says. “I’m almost jealous I didn’t get to experience something like that myself. It’s like I missed such an important milestone.”

“And being the Emperor's errand girl wasn’t an important milestone in your life?” Eda smirks.

“Shut up, Edalyn.”

“Amity?”

“Hm?” The girl looks over to her wife, a curious expression in her eyes.

Luz smiles. “I love you.”

“ _ Pff- _ I love you too, you dork,” Amity says, giggling. She can’t seem to help herself. And although she puts up a teasing exterior, she still blushes so red that it could rival the color of the ripest tomato.

“No, Amity, quiero decir. Te quiero, te quiero tanto,” The girl laughs softly. “Te amo tanto.” She continues rambling in the language Amity doesn’t know.

The witch giggles. “Te quiero también, Luz.”

“Q-Qué?! Oh Dios, estoy avergonzado…”

“Luz, I know like three words in that weird language of yours. I have like, zero idea what else you said.” Nevertheless, the human girl rubs the back of her neck shyly. Amity sits down next to her in the beanbag chair.

“Do you remember Grom?” she asks after a moment.

“Duh, how could I forget?” Luz grins.

“Do you remember when you asked who I wanted to ask to the dance?” 

Luz furrows her eyebrows. “No, I remember you being very secretive about it. I figured if you wanted to tell me, you’d tell me. How did that end up working out for you? Who  _ did _ you wanna ask out?” Amity simply blinks at her.

“You… you don’t know?”

The girl tilts her head. “No?”

“I wanted to ask you, dummy.”

Luz doesn’t say anything for a moment. Then, suddenly, all at once, her face lights up. “Really? You had a crush on me? Aww-”

“We’re married,” Amity deadpans.

“I know, but still, that’s embarrassing.” 

“Shut up,” she replies. But she’s still smiling. And Luz smiles too. The pair is silent for a moment.

“That was probably my best school dance ever. Including the most memorable dance.” Luz wiggles her eyebrows.

“ _ Ahhhh!!! I still can’t believe I did that, I’m such an idiot- _ ” Amity covers her face with her hands. The human girl giggles. She stands up, reaching a hand out for the other girl to take.

“May I have this dance, Mrs. Noceda-Blight?”

“There’s no music playing.”

“So? We make our own music. C’mon, Ami, dance with me~.”

“Fine, since you asked so nicely.”

Amity took her hand and Luz guided her across the room. She kept her eyes on her partner, yet still, she knew exactly where to take her. Every moment, every angle, seemed to be executed perfectly. Nothing felt forced; Amity felt as though she were floating.

A night to remember, truly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope u enjoy!  
> find me on tumblr: @a-sad-song-on-a-rainy-day


	5. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW WARNING//emetophobia!!! it starts at * and ends at another *. if that stuff triggers you, please skip over it, you won't miss anything, just a piece of dialogue. reminder that if i miss a warning please tell me and ill add a warning or edit some stuff. thanks and stay safe!

The next scene appears to be a party of some sorts. It’s winding down, a lot of people cleaning up empty plates and food. Those who attended were wearing formal clothing, but they’ve gotten sloppy, probably due to the intense nature of the party earlier. Willow, Gus, and Emira and her brother are among the few still remaining.

“Aw, everyone’s leaving already? I just got here!” Lilith rolls her eyes at Eda’s actions, and continues to survey the scene. A pint of apple blood sits on one of the picnic benches.  _ Seriously, what did Luz like about that stuff? _

“As much as I enjoy staring at the empty plates of food,” Lilith interjects, “I suggest we make our way to the next memento.”

Heading north, the pair finds themselves looking at a past Luz and Amity, sitting by the lighthouse. They’re also dressed rather formally. Amity wearing a beautiful two toned dress, and Luz wearing a tuxedo, complete with bowtie. They look young here. Amity rests her head against the concrete of the lighthouse, taking in the sound of the ocean waves hitting the rocks below. Suddenly, Luz speaks up.

“Do you feel any different? Now that we’re married, I mean.”

“No. Why do you ask? Do you?”

“Actually,” Luz sighs. “Yeah, I think so.”

The green haired witch tilts her head. “What is it like?”

“It’s just,” she hesitates. “Different. Just the responsibilities, I suppose.”

“Responsibilities…” The couple remains quiet for a moment. “Would you… like to name her ‘Camilia’?” Luz looks up at the lighthouse, tears filling her eyes.

“Yeah. Camilia is a good name for her. Now mom can always leave a light on for us.” Tears fall from Luz’s face as words fall from her lips. They’re silent for a moment. “Hey, come with me.”

The newlyweds make their way up the stairs, all the way to the top of the lighthouse. Luz takes Amity’s hands in hers and leads her in a waltz.

“This can’t be a good idea,” the witch mumbles. “I’ll trip and fall and die.”

“Don’t worry, just follow my steps.” A thump is heard from inside. “Ouch, my elbow!”

Amity laughs. “I think you stepped on my toes!”

“Sorry, that’s on me.”

“C’mon, let’s try again.”

The pair continues to dance until the sun comes up, when the scene shifts. Luz and Amity are standing in front of a man with white hair, who is holding a book and reciting words from it. Their friends, Willow, Gus, and Amity’s siblings are among those in the crowd.

“...To promise to love and comfort, to honor and to keep in sickness and in health, for as long as you shall live?”

Luz wipes the tears in her eyes, before replying with “I do.” The priest turns to Amity.

“And do you take this woman, standing before you, to be your lawfully wedded wife? To promise to love and comfort, to honor and to keep in sickness and in health, for as long as you shall live?”

“Yes,” Amity says, breathless.

“By the power invested in me,” the priest says. “I now pronounce you wife and wife. You may kiss.” The couple shares a sweet kiss, and a select few in the audience, Amity’s brother and sister especially, cheer. The priest turns to the audience. “Ladies and gentlemen, I present you Mrs. and Mrs. Noceda-Blight.” 

*

“Ack, the wedding,” Eda grumbles.

“Uh, yeah, what did you think that was?” Lilith raises an eyebrow.

“I’m just bad at weddings, that’s all. Fluids tend to escape from my eyes.”

“I didn’t know you were that sentimental, Edalyn.”

“Oh, did I say my eyes? I meant my mouth. And by fluids, I meant both fluids and solids.”

“That’s a lovely image, thanks Eda. Come, let’s find a way to get out of here.”

Eda smirks. “All this happiness and joy is really putting you off too, huh?”

Lilith hesitates. “...No, I just don’t like watching people make mistakes.

The younger witch grimaces. “Sheesh, whatever happened to ‘just take it moment by moment’?”

Lilith doesn’t respond, instead choosing to head south toward the road.

*

On the road lies the remains of some roadkill. A rabbit, presumably. Amity stares at it, unblinking.

“It can’t be helped, Ami… I’m sure they didn’t mean to,” Luz reassures.

“Wait, is that a rabbit? Don’t tell me this is the source of all those paper ones,” Eda gasps.

Lilith stares at her sister blankly. “...Why would she obsess over some roadkill? Not to mention so many years later.” Eda shrugs.

“I don’t know, I’ve seen weirder.”

“Oh for the love of- sorry, Eda, it looks like this… rabbit is our way out of here.”

“You know it’s a fantastic wedding when the memento is literal roadkill,” Eda remarks. 

The memento takes them to another road, the rabbit still there.

“Poor thing,” Lilith mutters. “What’s with all the roadkills today?” She looks pointedly at her sister, who crosses her arms defensively.

“...Don’t you look at me like that.”

The dark haired witch ignores her sister. She takes a look around the new memory and takes a deep breath in. “Smells like a farm.”

“And roadkill,” Eda reminds her. “Deactivate the scent simulator or get away from here already.”

Further down the road, the couple appears to be riding horses through a nicely trimmed field. Luz is laughing at Amity’s failed attempts at actual horseback riding, her excuse being “Hey, we don’t have horses on the Boiling Isles.”

The laughter fades out as the scene shifts once more.

\-------

Now, the doctors are in, well, a doctor’s office. Not exactly in their line of expertise, but you know a doctor’s office when you see it.

“...Are you sure of her diagnosis?” Luz can be heard asking.

“Yes, we’ve reached a consensus on the results,” the doctor says, running a hand through their hair. “Unfortunately, like many of the cases of pervasive developmental disorders, this is a rather late diagnosis. Had you known when you were a child, Miss, it could have saved you a lot of trouble. Have you read any books on the subject?” Luz shakes her head while Amity nods curtly. The doctor digs out a worn copy of a book from his desk and hands it to Luz. “This one is by Tony Attwood, they are one of the specialists on the subject. You can borrow the book free of charge for now, just don’t elope with it.”

“Thanks, doc,” Luz says.

“Now... Are you two a couple?”

“Unmarried and without any legal affiliation, but yes,” Luz affirms. 

“Yes, I see,” the doctor says, adjusting his glasses. “Well, I could give you a referral to a specialized counselor, if you wish. Is there anything unsettling in the relationship?”

“No,” Amity answers succinctly.

“And you, ma’am?”

“No, it’s fine.”

“Nonetheless, I would suggest that you give the book a read, it will help you understand the condition. Also, if you would like, there is a thing called equine therapy that might help her. A ranch just north of here offers it, I can contact them for you.”

_ That explains the horses from earlier. _

Eda and Lilth walk out into the waiting room, and the scene shifts. 

“Excuse me,” Luz is saying to the receptionist. “Could you please silence the clock? The ticking is really bothering her.”

“It’s not that severe,” Amity tries. “I’ll be okay.”

“No problem,” the receptionist says with a smile. “It’s standard procedure for all personnel to make sure that our clients are happy and feeling comfortable in our facility.”

“Thank you.”

_ That explains the clocks in the house as well. We are making a lot of breakthrough discoveries in this doctors office. _

Lilith’s voice snaps Eda out of her thoughts. “C’mon, let’s head out of here, Edalyn.”

\-------

“Amity… I’m sorry.”

Luz and Amity are standing in a hallway, Amity sitting on the ground, her knees pulled up to their chest. They’re even younger here. Fourteen, maybe? Amity’s hair is a bright mint green, a contrast to the brown they’d seen earlier.

The aforementioned witch turns away, burying her face into her knees. “Seriously? Just leave me alone!”

“I didn’t mean to embarrass you,” Luz said, her voice full of nothing but kindness and sympathy.

“That’s all you ever do!” The witch shoots back at her. “First at school, and now this!”

“Yeah, but-” Amity interrupts her.

“You made me look like a fool in front of the Emperor’s Coven. My future! You think it’s so easy to be a witch. I have been working my whole life to get to the top! You lost! You cheated! Say it! Say you’re not a witch!”

Luz looks down. “I’m not a witch,” she says simply. She pulls out a pen and paper, beginning to draw a shape onto it. She taps the symbol once, and the paper crumples, producing a ball of light in its place. “But I’m training hard to be one.” Amity looks surprised, but quickly scoffs and looks away.

“That’s nothing. A child could do a light spell.” Her face softens. “But… I’ve never seen it cast like that.”

“It doesn’t come naturally to me like it does for you, so I’ve had to improvise.” Amity pauses, as if to think this over for a moment. She grabs Luz’s wrist in decision and a circle forms around them and glows before fading. 

“The oath is unbound.”

\-------

Luz walks through the forest, looking discouraged. She sighs dramatically as she makes her way through.

“Ugh!” She groans. “If magic's all about digging for slime balls, maybe I don't have the stomach for it.” She says it as if she’s never done it before, although that can’t be the case since her later memories show evidence of performing magic on the Boiling Isles.

A girl's voice echoes in the distance. “You can do it! You can!”

Luz whips around. “Mysterious voice of encouragement?” She gasps as she looks through the bushes. “No! Little witch girl.” The “little witch girl” is Willow, from Luz’s later memories. She too, looks incredibly young. She wears a black cowl with a gray tunic with a dark gray belt and boots. Her sleeves and leggings are a pink color.

“You can do it,” the girl continues. “Even if you get a bad grade, it's not a reflection of you as a witch. And my parents are right. There are better opportunities on this track. Now, get to school!” Willow strikes a pose, emphasizing the point, but steps on a small flower in the process. “Oh, no! Oh, little friend! I'm sorry!” Willow makes a spell circle to remedy the mistake. Luz gasps as another character enters the scene. The doctors recognize them as Amity, but Luz’s behavior suggests that she has no idea who she is.  _ Their first meeting _ .

“Willow!” Amity greets, shutting the book she was reading. She is wearing the same outfit as Willow. “Wow. You're so unnoticeable I almost rolled into ya.” The girl chuckles, but it’s incredibly demeaning.

“Hi, Amity,” Willow grumbles.

“Uh, shouldn't you get to class early to prep your…” Amity asks, but falls short when the bowl of - apparently - purple goop spills out, a single eyeball floating amongst it. “Oh, Willow. You don't have anything to show, do you?” Willow pulls up her hood in embarrassment.

“Witch drama!” Luz whispers.

Amity sighs. “This is why people call you ‘Half‐a‐Witch Willow’.” Amity’s cauldron rattles. “Oh, looks like someone wants to say something to you.” She snaps her fingers. “Abomination, rise.”

The Abomination pops out of its previous container and draws a star atop Willow’s forehead. “You're a... star,” it grumbles out.

“Aw. It's like mine,” the green haired witch says, guestering to her “Top Student” badge. “But much smaller, and meaningless. As top student, it's my duty to tell you to keep at it. Even you could get a passing grade someday. Abomination, cower.” The Abomination sinks back into the cauldron. “See you in class, superstar!” And with that, Amity rolls away. Luz sticks her tongue at her from the bushes

_ Well, she was a bitch,  _ Eda thinks.  _ Can’t believe Luz ended up marrying her _ .

“‘Oh, see you in class, superstar!’” Willow says, mocking the witch. “I hate when she does that. I hate making abominations. I hate getting bad grades. Ugh! I can't stand this anymore!” As she says the final words, Willow’s eyes go green, and giant thorns grow out of the ground, one of the appendages grabs Luz by the ankle, dragging her out of her hiding spot.

Upon seeing what her magic has done, the witch immediately calls off her magic vines. “Oh, no, no, no, no, no! I'm so sorry!” she apologizes profusely.

“It's okay,” Luz says. “The thorns only went through a few layers of skin.”

Willow stares at the human’s ears. “So... circly.”

Luz quickly realizes she’s blown her cover and puts her hands over them.

The witch gasps. “You're human! This is astounding! A human on the Boiling Isles! How'd you get here? What are you doing here?”

Before Luz can answer any of her questions, a bell peals in the background.

“Uh, I'm sorry. I can't stay. I have to go disappoint my teacher.” Eda snorts. “It was nice to meet you, human,” she says, waving and beginning to walk away.

“Wait! I'm Luz. And you're Willow, right? What you did with that flower and those plants, it was... wow.”

Willow expresses her thanks, but before the memory can continue onward, it shifts again.

“Don't listen to them, Willow. We can do this,” Luz encourages from her position in the cauldron. Willow makes her way up to the front of the classroom, the cauldron in tow.

“Uh…” Willow falters. “Abomination, rise.”

Luz grunts, vaulting herself out of the container. “Ta‐da!” she shouts, striking a pose. All the students gasp, Amity looking especially aghast.

Willow looks more confident as she enunciates her next command. “Abomination, bow.” Luz bows.

“Very impressive,” the teacher muses. “But does it speak?”

The brown haired girl stammers for a moment before grabbing Willow’s hands. “Uh, I may be your abomination, but you're my a‐mom‐ination.” All the students collectively “Aw”. Amity looks at them in disbelief.

The teacher laughs. “‘A‐mom‐ination!’ Splendid wordplay. A-plus!” The students cheer. In response, the school bell screams, signaling the end of class. Probably. _ Man, this school is weird _ .

The scene shifts to Luz, Willow, and Gus eating lunch together.

“Hey. Do humans eat PB&J's?” Gus asks, holding out a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to Luz.

“Oh, my gosh. I haven't eaten real food in so long,” she breathes, reaching out of the cauldron to snatch the sandwich. “Please give me some.” She chomps the sandwich and retreats back into the cauldron.

“I don't know, Gus,” Willow grumbles. “If Amity saw that…”

As if on cue, Amity suddenly shouts from across the lunch room. “I saw that! Abominations don't eat! I know you're in there! You can't hide from me. What are you? Who are you? I want answers!” she shouts, grabbing Luz out of the cauldron by the hoodie. Her eyes suddenly widen as her eyes look over the girl’s face. “Wait, you’re-”

“Amity Blight,” the same teacher from the previous class calls. Amity stops shaking Luz.

“Huh?” The witch says. The teacher tuts.

“I suspected a twinge of jealousy, but this, this is just sad.”

“But I‐‐ No! Look at it!” Amity says defensively, guestering to the girl in front of her. Luz continues to groan in response.

“Report to Principal Bump's office,” the teacher commands.

“But,” Amity tries to interrupt.

“Now!”

“What was that all about?” Eda asks. Lilith shakes her head, shrugging.

“I can’t say I have even a hint of an idea. They most certainly did not get off on the right foot. How did they end up marrying each other?”

“Beats me. Children are weird.”

“Well,” Lilith sighs. “We must be on our way then. No need for sticking around to ask questions.” Eda looks back at the scene before nodding, following her sister into another column of white light.

\-------

In this house, the clock ticks.

The sound startles Eda and Lilith, who are not used to the sound after so long in Luz’s memories. Luz sits on the counter in the kitchen, swinging her feet back and forth. She’s wearing the same clothes as she was in the previous memory, although there is no trace of abomination goop. Her thumbs swipe up as she scrolls through her phone.

“ _ Mija _ , what did I tell you about sitting on the counters?” A voice calls from the other room. The girl jumps off and whips around to face an older woman wearing what looks to be hospital scrubs. She has dark brown hair tied in a bun and her bangs tuft up similarly to how Luz's do. Her glasses have a thick red frame on the top.

“ _ Perdón, Mami _ . I was just trying to pass the time before going to school.” Her mother - Eda and Lilith assume - glances at the clock before turning back to her daughter.

“You should probably get on your way then,  _ cariño _ ,” the woman advises. “You wouldn’t want to be late.”

“Oh! Then, in that case, I’ll see you after school,  _ mami _ .”

“Have a nice day, Reyes! My, how they grow up so fast.” She watches as her child leaves the house, before sighing. She twists a ring off her finger and places it down on the counter.

“‘Reyes’? Her name  _ is _ Luz right? I haven’t been screwing up this whole time?” Eda asks. Lilith looks equally as confused.

“Yes… That’s what it said on her medical records.”

“You don’t suppose she changed her name?”

“No, it doesn’t seem likely,” she replies, shaking her head. “There are no instances of it in any of her records. Perhaps it’s a nickname?”

“What?” Eda asks, incredulous. “You can’t possibly be serious, Lily. It makes no sense.”

Lilith sighs. “Then I suppose I don’t have the foggiest idea.”

“Wait,” Eda interrupts. “There’s another jar of that apple stuff on the counter. Except here, it’s labelled apple  _ juice _ .”

“Wow, color me impressed. What other useless mementos can you get us in this house?” Eda stares at her sister with a deadpan expression.

“Maybe there are more useless items in Luz’s room.” Lilith shrugs.

“No harm in looking.”

The pair step into a room covered in posters of presumably television shows. A collection of action figures sits on the desk as well, accompanied with a worn journal as well. A book series is displayed neatly on the book shelf.

_ The Good Witch Azura _ , books one through four. Eda could’ve sworn there was a fifth…

“Hey, look at this,” Lilith calls from the other side of the room. Eda walks over to her sister.

“Wow, look at that, you found a soccer ball. What a discovery.”

“No, I mean-,” Lilith sighs. “Does Luz seem like the type of person to play soccer?” The younger woman puts a finger to her chin, pondering it.

“Well, why don’t we find out?”

\-------

The Clawthorne sisters, instead of a normal memory setting, find themselves stuck in a vast white space, with seemingly no end in sight.

_ What a way to start this time jump off, huh? _

“Ack, it smells like roadkill again,” Eda groans, plugging her nose before looking around at her surroundings. “...Where are we?” Lilith doesn’t reply. “Lilith?”

Then, Eda turns to her left.

There, in the wide empty space, is a house, sitting in the void. Lilith walks over to it.

“It’s the next memory.”

“Well, yeah, but why is it going Laputa on us?”

“I don’t know,” Lilith hums. “It’s just not linking the memories together for construction… there must be a malfunction within the machine’s ADG.”

“ _ Again? _ I thought the last fix was foolproof for another half a year! I can’t believe those idiots in the maintenance department.”

“Look, don’t worry,” Lilith assures. “We’ve already gotten the teenage years saved. We might still be able to do this.”

“Alright, but I ain’t telling Luz about this.”

“...As long as we succeed, she doesn’t have to know,” Lilith sighs. “Well, I guess this is it. There’s nothing we can do here. Ready to finalize before activation?”

“You know the rules, the oldest player goes first,” Eda says, bowing.

“I’m… not quite sure that’s how it goes,” Lilith says, but disappears anyway, leaving the memory. Eda turns back to the house.

“What a shame, I was actually looking forward to this.”

And with that, Eda leaves, following her sister and leaving the memory behind them.

_ End of Act 1 _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> find me on tumblr: @a-sad-song-on-a-rainy-day


	6. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this is late!! enjoy!

Act Two

_ “Billions of lighthouses… stuck at the far end of the sky.” _

\-------

Skara is up and standing next to Edalyn and Lilith Clawthorne, her face flooded with a look of concern.

“Don’t disturb them,” the doctor scolds gently, motioning for her to head back. “They might not wake easily, but they need concentration.”

_ The waking world is unchanged _ .

The pair of doctors are back at the start, talking to an old, frail Luz. They seem to be nearing the end of a discussion.

“...And that’s about all I can tell you,” she chuckles. “Sorry I can’t be of much help.”

“Then that’ll be enough,” Lilith says, putting away her notebook and pencil.

“Aye, all that’s left to do is linking your registered desire to go to the moon to your early memories,” Eda exclaims. “Then we’ll pull the switch, and voilà! You’ll be on the moon in no time.” Luz looks a little puzzled.

“I have a question,” she starts. “If you could make Skara disappear, that means you can alter this world, right?” Lilith nods. “Can you not just like, make things happen, and fulfill my wish that way? Here and now?”

“That would work,” Eda answers, “if this were your one true set of memories.”

Luz tilts her head. “What do you mean? What is this, then? What am I?”

“This is just a copy, a canvas for us to work with, if you will. As for you, you are merely an algorithm traced from Luz. Enough to reflect her likeness, but far from complete. All we can do is to prepare this canvas in a logically consistent way. And then, when we transfer your registered desire to your childhood, the machine will generate your new life, one where the desire dictates your behavior.” Eda pauses to catch her breath. “The result of that, would then be written to the real Luz. So you see, even if we satisfy you, you are merely a ‘read-only’ program. I mean, we could reset you over and over again, and--”

“That’s enough,” Lilith interjects.

“Oh, don’t be so sensitive. She’s not real, you know.”

“If you truly believed that, why did you even care to explain?” Eda pauses. “I’m just trying to save time. Let’s go,” Lilith says, disappearing in a flash of light. Eda goes to follow her, but stops when Luz calls out to her.

“Doctor.” Eda pauses in her steps and looks back to Luz. “Is that… what I truly am?” Eda sighs, saying nothing as she follows her sister into the brightness.

\-------

The actions of the sisters lead them to this dreamscape, where the true power of what they do really gets showcased. Before them are all of the mementos, all the versions of Luz. They’re all laid out, ready to be tinkered with.

“Ah, all of our night’s work,” Eda sighs, taking it all in. Lilith takes the time to look as well, scanning over every memory. She looks back to her sister only to find her transformed into a tadpole of sorts, only recognizable due to her head still being attached.

“What the--” she asks, then sighs. “At least give me a warning first.”

“What can I say,” Eda smirks. “I like being a head.”

“I’d ask if that’s a pun, but I’m afraid you’d say yes.” Lilith follows Eda’s actions, turning into the tadpole creature as well. “Let’s do this fast, I feel silly enough in this form as it is. All we need to do is to pass her desire from the latest memory to the earliest.”

And so, Lilith and Edalyn begin their process of aligning the mementos. The form they’re in may seem silly, but it’s a little hard to walk through the air on human legs. Trust me, it’s necessary.

Once all the accessible memories are aligned, Edalyn sighs contentedly in a job well done. “Ding!” she exclaims. “That’s about all of the ones we can work with.” She turns back to the obscured memories behind them, Luz’s early days. “Too bad we got a straggler here.” “No loss,” Lilith assures. “We can do this without her.”

“I know, but it feels incomplete.”

Lilith shakes her head. “You get too attached. It’s going to impede your abilities to do your job.”

“Nonsense. Don’t pin your goody-two-shoes ways on me.”

“Ready to pull the switch?” Lilith asks.

“You know me, always ready.” A flash of white light absorbs them, then fades. The mementos are gone, but the doctors appear unharmed. “Alright, let’s go check out what souvenirs Luz brought back from the moon!”

They head to a slightly older Luz, but it’s not old enough. They pass teenage Luz. They head towards young adult Luz, and enter her memoryscape.

Upon entering, however, they find nothing to be changed.

“Huh, I guess this part is still the same…” They leave Luz and Amity to their wedding. Moving on to adult Luz.

“Sheesh, the same thing here as well? Usually, there’s at least some change…”

“Something’s not right…” Lilith ponders. “These memories, they feel more than just having happened again. They are… exactly the same.” Eda looks dumbfounded.

“That’s impossible. The desire was transferred, was it not?”

“It was, I’m certain of it.”

They move on once more to an even older Luz. Nothing has changed.

“Okay, this isn’t right!” Eda exclaims. “How could everything be the same?!”

“...Let’s confirm it,” Lilith says, trying to sound sure, but she falters on her words. “We need his last accessible memory.” The pair traverses one last time.

“This is the same setting as his real last accessible memory…” Lilith muses.  _ So far, there hasn’t been a single change throughout Luz’s entire life, despite injecting some space desires into her earliest memories. If there’s been no change whatsoever, the latest Luz will be waiting for us on the cliff overlooking Camilla as normal. _ Eda follows her sister up the cliff, and reaches where Luz was last time.

“Luz?” Lilith calls. The aforementioned girl turns around and smiles.

“What a pleasant surprise, we don’t get many visitors around here.”

“Déjà vu, again…” Eda mutters.

“My name is Dr. Lilith Clawthorne, and this is...” Lilith pauses expectantly.

“What?” Eda asks indignantly. “I’m not saying it twice.” Her sister sighs.

“...Dr. Edalyn Clawthorne. Are you familiar with the Isles Agency of Life Generation?”

“Oh! Are you two from the agency?” Luz lights up. “How convenient, I’ve just been thinking of calling them. Skara, get us some tea please.” Just as she was before, Skara heads off toward the house before freezing. And, just like before, Luz is taken aback. “...Skara?” The girl disappears with the touch of a button. Luz backs up, afraid once more.

“Freeze her too,” Lilith instructs. Eda does as told.

“...Well?”

“Wait here, I'll send the desire signal again. See if there are any changes.” Lilith disappears and then reappears a moment later. “It transferred successfully for sure. Any changes?” Eda shakes her head.

“Not even a hair,” she sighs. “How could this be? Even if her desire doesn’t work alone, why is there no change at all?”

Lilith lets out a shaky breath. “Perhaps… Perhaps it just needs some provoking to activate?”

“From her early memories?”

“The earliest we can get to. Let’s go.”

\-------

_ Hopefully this works _ , Lilith thinks to herself.

The scene she’s met with is Luz and Amity at a movie theatre. The same one they attended on their first date, probably.

_Luz’s desire to go to the moon needs stimulation, huh?_ _Well then._ Lilith smashes some buttons, inputting some figures into a device, and the scene changes.

“ _ MOON: In Theatres Now!”  _ reads the poster.

“What the-” Luz questions. “This wasn’t what they said was playing!” she sighs. “Do you mind, Amity?”

Amity smiles. “No, I like this one.”

“Alright!” Luz exclaims, pumping a fist into the air. She grabs Amity’s hand confidently and the green haired witch blushes at the contact, allowing herself to be dragged into the theatre.

_ Hopefully that’s enough for an ignition. Wait, where’s Eda?  _ She sighs.  _ I’m sure we’ll catch up with her soon _ .  _ Let’s go see if there are any changes. _ Lilith enters the theatre.

Oh, and the sight she’s met with.

“To the moOoOon, darling!” the character on screen exclaims.

“OoOoh, Henry!” Lilith stares at the screen in horror.

_ Dear Titan, I’m way too tired and hungry to be constructing movies… Sorry for making you sit through this, children. _

__ Lilith heads back to the recent memory to look for changes. Nothing. Not even a classic like MOON could change Luz’s life path. Nothing left to do but try again, I suppose. She traverses to a different memory, Luz with Willow and Gus in the cafeteria. Everything seems to be normal.

“What’re you guys doing here?” an unnamed voice calls out to the two witches (and Luz). “It’s starting! Let’s go get a good spot!”

_ I don’t remember that happening. Something must’ve changed… _

__ The woman follows the witches into what appears to be a gymnasium.  _ Wait a minute,  _ she thinks.  _ This can be a real change, this is- _

“MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE,” Eda calls out from the stage. __

_ Oh boy… _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> find me on tumblr: @a-sad-song-on-a-rainy-day


	7. Chapter Six

“I’m just saying,” Eda said. “I think it could have gone a lot worse. In fact, I think it was a pretty good show.”

“I can’t say I agree with your review, but yes, it could indeed have gone a lot worse. Let’s check and see if your… presentation worked.”

Eda was a lot of things, but Lilith wouldn’t say that a convincing NASA agent was one of them. Her sister had attempted to persuade young Luz to become an astronaut, but her attempt proved futile, the young girl immediately shooting down her request. Nonetheless, Eda still looked as confident as ever.

“Don’t bother, dear sister,” Eda says. “I will check myself.” Five seconds later, she reappears. “I am back.”

“Report?” 

Eda grins. “Utter failure!”

“I cannot say I’m surprised,” Lilith pinches the bridge of her nose, sighing. “How on the Boiling Isles are we going to convince this girl?”

“Hey, don’t get discouraged! I’m sure there are still things to be done.”

“Such as..?”

“Well...”

\-------

“We can’t afford to finish building this house, Willow. We can barely afford to pay for her treatme-”

“...But can you afford the  _ LUNAR TRIP LOTTERY? _ ” Eda interjects. The two simply blink at her. “If you sell this house, I bet you could!” Willow and Luz continue to sit in silence.

__ _ Nope. _

“Is the diagnosis certain?” Luz asks the doctor.

“Yes, but fortunately-” Lilith bursts through the door, interrupting the older gentleman.

“Hey, did you know that NASA has  _ excellent health-care plans? _ It’s true! For both you and your spouse!”

_ Not that one _ .

“ _ FREE PONY RIDES IN SPAAAAAAACE! _ ”  _ Absolutely not. _

__ “Oh look, a wedding. Good for you. But here’s a riddle: Guess where you should go for your honey _ moon _ ?”  _ We’ve resorted to bad puns, what are we running here? _

“Amity?” Luz calls out to the empty house. She moves to traverse down the stairs, but stops when she hears a noise at the window.

“Titan- goddamn glass- slippery- woah!” Eda hits the ground with a large  _ thud _ . She rubs her lower back as she falls into the grass below. “Personally, Lily, I don’t think this is working.”

“You don’t say,” the witch deadpans. She shakes her head. “It’s more than not working - it’s ridiculous. We’re professionals, by Titan! I didn’t sign up for the job to run around yelling at her like an idiot.” Eda blinks.

“You didn’t?” Lilith says nothing. “...Look, maybe this lack of sleep is getting to us. Had I known that we’d be pulling an all-nighter, I would’ve brought some wake-up elixir.” Lilith sighs, running a hand through her hair.

“I agree. You should’ve seen the movie I constructed earlier.”

“What movie?”

“...Exactly.” There’s a beat. “Anyway, as valuable as time is here, this just isn’t going anywhere like this. Let’s take a break til morning. Hopefully Luz can hang on til then.”

“...I do have some calls to make.”

The pair decides to take their rest where they first met Luz, on the cliff by the lighthouse. It’s the present this time, so Luz isn’t there. Eda is fast asleep, snoring her head off, but Lilith lays there, awake.

_ It doesn’t make sense,  _ she thinks.  _ Why did the machine have no effect? Luz’s registered wish to go to the moon was successfully transferred, yet… there wasn’t even a trace of her wanting to go to the moon after the transfer. Unless… _

_...Unless a secondary condition for the desire was changed in the process. Only then, would the same desire produce two different outcomes at two different points in time. _

_ There’s no denying that Amity played an important role through it all. If there’s anything that could’ve caused the core to change, she would be the top suspect. But out of all the things, what exactly caused it? Amity… _

_ Just what exactly did you do? _

Time passes. It’s sunrise, Lilith has been thinking on this throughout the remainder of the early morning.  _ We don’t have much time left _ , she thinks helplessly. She takes a look at Luz’s vitals. She’s right, Luz’s lifebar, which has been green throughout the journey, is now a deep yellow color.  _ She won’t last much longer… and we still haven’t gotten her to the moon. We need to remedy that. Now. _

Lilith decides to take a walk.

She walks down the path toward the front of the house, pausing to pinch her nose in disgust.  _ Ugh, you can smell that squirrel Edalyn ran over all the way from here now… _ She ignores it, however, and knocks on the door, stepping inside the house. Skara is sitting at the dining room table. Her expression brightens a bit as the witch enters the house. “Did you want anything?” she asks. Lilith fidgets with her hands before sitting down at the table with her.

“I hope this isn’t an intrusion, but… isn’t it pretty unusual for someone like you to work here? With two children and all, I mean,” she adds the last part quickly. Skara doesn’t seem offended. She smiles.

“It’s not that bad, really. There’s a school bus that passes through here.”   
“But how did you even end up here?” Lilith asks.

“Well, a few years ago, my husband passed away.” Lilith’s face softens, looking at the girl in front of her..

“What happened?” Skara exhales softly, her smile filled with pain.

“He was in the army. They were the last batch to be deployed overseas.”

“Sorry to hear that,” Lilith says honestly.

“I panicked. Our savings were low, and the job market was grim. Luz saw my ad and offered me this job. I accepted with gratitude. This place was peaceful, too. It helped with the grieving.”

“Doesn’t the government issue grants to war widows to help them get back on their feet?” Lilith asks, a little confused.

“They do,” Skara confirms. “And eventually, I received aid. But by then, Luz was starting to have trouble on her own. She needed my help. Tommy and Sarah like this place, too. And so we stayed. As for Luz… she was glad as well.” Skara lets out a shaky breath. “We’re going to miss her. I think, deep down, she really wanted a family.”

“What are you going to tell them about Luz?” Lilith asks, referring to the kids.

“I… I don’t know. I’ll probably make something up. But it’s no use. Kids are smart nowadays, they’ll figure it out.”

“Yeah.”

A beat.

“This is your full time job, isn’t it?”

Skara chuckles. “What else is there to do? Find a job in the city and live on, I suppose. I’m going to miss Luz and this place. Maybe I’ll come back to visit once in a while.” Lilith gets up to leave, but Skara stops her. “Oh, hey…”

“Hm?”

“She… she said that she probably wouldn’t get the chance herself, but… she wanted me to tell you thanks for her. So… thank you.”

_ There’ll be nothing to thank us for if we can’t send her to the moon. _

__

Lilith runs into Eda in the kitchen, the witch inspecting some papers on the counter. She’s muttering something to herself.

“What is it?” Lilith asks.

“It seems like our little Luz here has some hidden records from the old days.”

“...Hidden records?”

“Hidden medical records, to be exact. Apparently, during her youth, she was administered a large dose of enhanced beta blockers. And what luck! They tend to have this little side effect on a curious thing called  _ memories _ .”

“Beta blockers… Luz didn’t have any heart conditions though, right?”

“Nope. Which leads one to wonder… if the ‘side effects’ were intended to be merely just that to begin with… and in such a large amount, its impact on her memories at the time of administration must’ve been significant.”

“...You think that’s what kept us out of her earliest memories?”

“Well it’s not the machine, I can tell you that. The maintenance department yelled at me for scolding them.”

“...So what now?”

“I was just given the reconfiguration thingamajigs that should get us past the blockers. And once we’re in her childhood, we might be able to finally transfer that little moon desire of hers!”

“Then what are we waiting for, Edalyn?” Lilith exclaims. “This is a major breakthrough for us!”

“But just one thing…” Eda says cautiously. Lilith huffs.

“Of course.”

“In order to activate the new thingies, we’ll need a trigger. Something that exists strongly in the memory we’re trying to get to. And we’ll need to give it to Luz for her to stimulate the memory.”

“But what do we know of that? We’ve only gotten a glimpse of her childhood memories. And even if we find a childhood photo or something, Luz is unconscious.”

“Back to square one…” Eda grumbles. “You know, this job hasn’t been such a pain since Wrath’s case last year.”

“Oh yeah. That one was quite the case.”

Eda groans. “This is killing me. I need to go get some fresh air.”

Lilith watches Eda leave and takes a look around the room. The bottle of beta blockers still sits on the table, along with various medical papers as well.  _ Where did she get this stuff? _ It isn’t long before Lilith hears Eda screaming from downstairs.

“It  _ smells _ !” Lilith walks into the other room to see her sister pinching her nose.

“Quit barging in and out of doors, Edalyn.”

“The roadkill, Lilith! It smells!”

“I know,” Lilith says flatly. “It’s your fault for running it over.”

“What’s going on out here?” Skara asks, walking into the room. “The children are still sleeping…” she adds cautiously.

“Wait a minute… that last memory, the one we were stuck at… It was the same smell!” Skara looks between the two of them, confused.

“What are you two talking about?”

“The smell is the probably the most effective sense for bringing Luz’s memory back!” Eda exclaims. “And the best part… even though Luz is still unconscious, she can still smell!”

“I think I’m missing some vital contextual information on this whole thing,” Skara says shyly.

“This is good… this is awesome. Now you just need to go and get a piece of that roadkill, Lilith.”

“Yes, I’ll just--” Lilith pauses to look at Eda. “Wait, why should  _ I  _ fetch it? You’re the one who ran over it!”

“Exactly, I’ve already done my part.” Lilith grumbles something under her breath.

“Uhm…. I have a pair of gloves you can borrow, if that helps.”

“That would be lovely, thank you, Skara.” The girl only nods in response.

_ The kind of things this job gets me into _ , Lilith thinks to herself, carefully trying to extract the necessary parts of the roadkill.  _ It’s not safe to just bring in a germ-infested piece of roadkill like this. There’s a valved container in the car, it’d at least make its odor controllable _ .

Meanwhile, inside the house, Eda suddenly sits straight up. She makes her way to the door at a quick pace.

“Where are you going?” Skara asks her.

“I… I gotta… pick some flowers.”

“But we don’t have any flowers in the ya-” But Eda was already gone.

_What a mess… the crash shook everything up. Titan, Edalyn._ _Let’s see what we have here. Ah, here it is_. Lilith pulls out a valved container, pocketing it. _Time to get some roadkill, I guess._

After successfully obtaining the proper items, Lilith packs up and heads back to the house. However, after barely making it five feet, a curious item rolls right in front of her.  _ Must be from the car. _ Lilith inspects the object further.  _ Is this… _

__ _ An elixir? _

Suddenly, Eda runs into view, clearly out of breath. She pants a few times before greeting her sister. “...Oh, hey. Did you get the roadkill?”

“It’s ready,” Lilith affirms.

“Great! Go get it set up, I’ll be right with you.”

“Edalyn…” The witch looks confused, silently asking the dark haired witch  _ what _ ? “This elixir, I think it’s yours.”

“Hey!” Eda says defensively, snatching the bottle from her hands.

“It’s because of the curse, isn’t it?” 

Eda doesn’t say anything.

\-------

“...So when we get to that exact point, I will send the signal. When I do, I want you to release the valve for about three seconds.”

“Of course, Dr. Clawthorne.”

“Have you made sure the germs are sealed off?” Eda asks, munching on a donut she found somewhere. Lilith looks at her strangely. Eda simply shrugs, taking another bite.

“Fully sealed and filtered. Not like it’d matter to a dead person.”

“This might be your last chance, you two,” the doctor says, pushing up his glasses. “Whatever you do in there, good luck.”

“Luck’s the last thing we need.”

_ End of Act 2 _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> find me on tumblr: @a-sad-song-on-a-rainy-day


	8. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this is late. enjoy!

Act Three

_“They shine their lights at the other lighthouses, and at me.”_

\-------

“Let’s go.”

The pair have found themselves in the house of Luz’s youth, where they saw her and her mother interact for the first time, the last accessible memory. They traverse through the house and activate the soccer ball memento.

They’re back in the blinding white space, the soccer ball the only other item accompanying them.

“To think that this little thing’s causing us so much trouble,” Eda remarks, staring at the ball pointedly, “I just want to kick it to outer space.”

“I suppose all we can do now is to send the signal and hope.”

“Well… ready?”

The ball blinks, the signal being sent to the doctor on the other side. The dreamscape starts blinking a green color.

“Something’s happening…” Lilith says cautiously. “Send it again.” The ball blinks once more. The dreamscape starts flashing a more frantic red.

“What is happening to this place?!” Eda asks, her voice full of worry.

“Doctor, something’s wrong!” Skara yells to the older gentleman. In the waking world, there’s some intense beeping on Luz’s heart monitor.

“What?! Take over for me, Skara,” the doctor instructs, looking at his notes. He takes a look at her vitals and then back to the girl. “Her condition has been destabilized, intake levels must be reconfigured.”

The two sisters sit in silence in the dreamscape. Suddenly, Lilith speaks up.

“It’s been destabilized. Get out.”

“What?” Eda asks in disbelief. Lilith continues to wear the serious expression.

“Get out of this memory. Now,” she instructs.

“What on the Boiling Isles are you talking about?”

Lilith grabs Eda by the shoulders. “If the system doesn’t restabilize soon, the shock might permanently damage whoever’s in here.”

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding m-, Why aren’t you getting out, then, Lily?!”

“I can’t, Edalyn! If both of us get out under this state, all of our work will be reset. There won’t be enough time to redo all we’ve done before, Luz--”

“Oh you fucking- don’t pull that shit on me! This isn’t a movie and you’re no hero, you’re just being an idiot!”

“Then why are you being one too?!” Lilith retorts. “Get out of here!”

“Screw that!” Eda yells. “If you’re gone, they’ll probably pair me up with some stuck up bitch from the healers coven!”

“Damn it, Eda! This is what I get for letting you cheat through the entrance exams.”

“...Doctor?” Skara asks cautiously. The beeping stops. The doctor leans back in their chair, sighing heavily.

“...I think we’re okay, for now.”

The dreamscape turns back to normal. Eda and Lilith are still having a screaming match, seemingly having failed to notice. 

“...and guess what? Your carrot cake _sucks_!”

“Wait a minute,” Lilith tries, but is cut off again by her sister.

“Yeah! And, at the last work party, you-” Eda stops, looking around for the first time. “...Oh.”

“C’mon, let’s go before that happens again,” Lilith says, instantly moving on. “You know that I didn’t mean to… y’know, call you a moron, right?”

“You know that I did, right?” Eda deadpans before sighing. “...Here goes nothing.” She presses a button on her device and the two are teleported to a grassy lawn next to a house. “Wow, I can’t believe that worked,” Eda remarks under her breath.

“So we actually made it… but now I’m not sure if I’m going to like this place.”

“What do you mean? It seems peaceful enough,” Eda shrugs.

“Edalyn, did you notice something odd from Luz’s house earlier?” The mentioned witch glances to the side and then back at her sister warily.

“Em… what?”

“There was a strange detail,” she continues. “Did you not notice?”

“I… I suppose not?” Eda says cautiously. Lilith sighs.

“Nevermind, I just hope I’m wrong.”

“Wow, that sounds fabulous!” A voice exclaims from the other side of the house. Upon closer inspection, it appears to be Luz’s mother. She’s talking to a fuzzy memory, though she’s also sitting on the swing. The memory is all kinds of screwed up, most likely due to the beta blockers.

“I know, right?” An unknown voice says. “You’ve got to take them there sometime!”

“Sheesh, the time overlap is getting out of hand,” Eda mutters. She spots a dead squirrel in the road. “All thanks to this little fella’s sacrifice.”

“...I hope.”

Moving down the street, Lilith and Eda lay their eyes upon a fuzzy figure with Luz. The face is completely obscured, the only real recognizable detail being their tall stature. They seem to be playing soccer. Luz’s mother and the fuzzy memory from before are talking to each other in Luz’s driveway. “Oh, look at the time,” she says, looking at her phone. “I’d better get going, the store closes early today!”

“Oh, take care, Camilia,” the memory says. “Say hello to Jaime for me!” Luz’s mother smiles.

“I will. I’ll see you soon!”

“...Camilia…” Eda says, glancing at her sister.

“After her mother,” Lilith affirms.

“Who do you reckon this Jaime is? Her brother? But that doesn’t make any sense..”

“...I might have some idea.” Eda hums at her sister's reply, then glances in her direction suspiciously.

“You were saying you had a strange suspicion?”

Lilith shakes her head. “Never mind it. Maybe I was wrong after all. I mean, this place, it’s so peaceful. The only thing that exists in this memory that could do such a thing would be-” Lilith cuts herself off and looks back toward the house. “ _Shit_ , duh. We need to go back, now.”

“Wait, what’s going on now?”

“ _Just shut up and come with me, Edalyn._ ”

Down the street, Camilia is getting in her car.

“Don’t worry, Luz, I’ll get it!” an unknown voice yells. It’s the fuzzy figure playing with Luz, they’re chasing after the soccer ball, which has since rolled out into the street.

Camilia starts the car.

The figure chases the ball, which is heading towards the driveway.

Camilia begins backing up.

The figure continues still.

Camilia backs up further.

The figure stands in the driveway, picking up the ball. They turn to yell back toward Luz, but are met with the back of a car. They try to move backwards, out of harm's way.

Camilia backs up.

_Whump_.

The sound of a car braking rings through the memory. Everything is black, except for the figures and the car.

“Who..?”

Luz comes running into view, screaming. “ _Dad! Dad!!_ ” She runs toward her apparent father, who is lying motionless on the sidewalk, blood trailing out of his mouth. “Why did you hit dad, _mami_? Why did you hit him?” Camilia says nothing, falling to her knees. “ _Papá_ , wake up! _Wake up!_ ”

Her dad’s face looks up at Luz, his features slowly coming into view. He has his daughters chocolate brown eyes and dark brown hair. He looks to Luz with a sad smile.

“I love you, Reyes _."_

“I… I wasn’t aware Luz had a dad… I just figured he wasn’t in the picture… Left when Luz was born or something,” Eda says, dumbfounded.

“Didn’t you see, Edalyn?” Eda only stares. “Luz’s mom wore a wedding ring.”

More figures gather around to look at the scene.

“...Reyes,” Eda whispers.

“Even though she was young… to lose a father… not to mention how her mom must feel.”

“At least Luz had the beta blockers to erase the memories. Not like she remembers it, much.”

“Fuzzily unlinked, not erased. Somewhere in there, the aftermath of those memories probably lingered.”

“What about the mother? I don’t think she took the beta blockers.”

Lilith shrugs. “I don’t know. I mean, I don’t think I would want to forget my husband. If I had one, that is.” The pair is silent for a few moments. Eda sighs, looking further toward the road.

“I’m sure he’s in a better place, wherever he is.”

\-------

“Reyes, have you tried this one?” Luz’s father - Jaime - asks. A younger Luz walks over to him, eyeing the book in his hands.

“What’s it called?”

“ _The Good Witch Azura._ It’s about this girl named Azura, who fights for peace across magical lands. There’s only one out right now, but it looks like the author is coming out with more in the future,” her father says, showing her the cover. Luz looks at it in awe, staring at the book in her hands.

“It looks so cool!” she says, immediately beginning to flip through the pages. Jaime chuckles.

“Would you like to buy it, Luz?” The girl nods enthusiastically. “I know you lost the prize you got at the fair the other day, so it might be nice to-”

“I didn’t lose it, I gave it away.” Her father looks at her quizzically, tilting his head slightly.

“To who?” he asks.

“Doesn’t matter. She’s going to be more happy with it than I would be.” Her dad smiles.

“C’mon, let’s go buy it.”

“ _Papá_?” Luz asks, looking up at her father. He looks back down at her, his eyes smiling at her through the framed lenses on his face.

“Yes, Reyes?”

“I love you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welp. we at the sad part y'all.
> 
> remember, be sure to tell me if there are any triggers I should mention/tag!
> 
> find me on tumblr: @a-sad-song-on-a-rainy-day


	9. Chapter Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm super excited for this chapter hope u like it <3

Lilith and Eda find themselves in a grassy field, surrounded by stands filled with food, attendees handing out candy to young children, who are laughing, running to every attraction they can find. Eda looks around.

“Some kind of carnival, huh? Should we look around?”

“How about I look around and you just stand here?” Lilith proposes. Eda narrows her eyes at her sister.

“How about we continue speaking in the form of questions for the next hour?” The witch retorts.

“Quit running your mouth and go already.”

“Aw, you ruined it,” Eda says, feigning sadness.

“Fruits! Fresh fruits!” A vendor yells from the side. “Apples, oranges, tomatoes! We got it all!” they continue.

“Wait a minute, tomatoes aren’t fruits!” Eda yells.

“Er,” Lilith interjects. “Yeah, they are. They are the ovaries of the plant and contain seeds. That’s what a fruit is.”

“But c’mon,” Eda starts, indignant. “Tomatoes? We never refer to them as fruits!”

“What do you mean, ‘we’?” Eda pauses.

“...I happen to enjoy cooking in groups, okay? Some of us take it very seriously.” Lilith only sighs. As exciting as fruit talk is, though, they’ve got a job to do.

“But I want the train!” a young voice shouts over the noise. The doctors immediately recognize it as Luz.

“Sorry, miss, but we’re fresh out of stock… do you want to exchange your prize for a teddy bear instead?” The carnie hesitantly asks.

“I wanted the train, though…” Luz pouts.

“It’s okay, Luz. We can get another one,” her father says softly.

“But I want it now!” Jaime cringes.

“Be patient, Reyes.” Luz crosses her arms.

“Cariño, your father is doing a very nice thing for you right now. Be respectful,” Camilia interjects. She chuckles as Luz slowly unfolds her arms. “C’mon, let’s get out of the way of the people behind us.”

“Yeesh, children,” Eda says, sucking in a breath.

“I will neither agree nor disagree with you, Edalyn, but we need to move on, in any case,” Lilith says, walking ahead.

“Ah yes, fortunes of wonder are ahead of you!” a different carnie exclaims, waving their arms dramatically. “This one might just become a lawyer, and this one… a doctor!” They say, guestering to Luz and her mother respectively.

Jaime chuckles. “How fitting. C’mon, let’s get some ice cream to celebrate the occasion!” The family runs off.

“Hey-! Where’s my tip?” The carnie shouts. But they’re already gone. Lilith and Eda keep walking.

“Welcome and behold! The world’s smallest ferris wheel!” An energetic middle aged man shouts, guestering to the smallest ferris wheel that Eda and Lilith have ever seen in their lives.

“Can we ride it?” a child asks from the audience.

“Absolutely not!” The man replies enthusiastically, a giant grin on his face.

“...Does it even work?”

“Absolutely not!”

“It looks to me like someone just glued some chairs to a water-wheel,” Eda mutters.

“I don’t know, and I don’t really care,” Lilith shoots back.

Down to the south, Luz and her family are engaged in their food. Her father seems to be sipping on a red liquid. At first, Eda thinks it’s fruit juice, but then-

“Ah, nothing like a nice refreshing glass of apple blood!”

There it is.

“I don’t get how you like that kind of stuff, papi. How can you stand the taste of it?” Luz asks.

“It’s delicious, mija! Try it!”

“No! I don’t even like apple juice!”

“You should at least try a sip, Luz. Who knows, maybe you’ll like it!” Luz is silent for a moment.

“...Mmmmmmnaw.” Her father chuckles. “I’m done, though. Can I go play?”

“Okay, but only at the playground and not an inch too far! Do you understand, mija? And leave the bag, I’ll keep it for you.”

“No way!” Luz says defensively. “It’s mine! I won it!” And with that, she runs off. The figures of her parents fade away, the apple blood still on the table. Jaime’s favorite.

The doctors follow Luz, heading up to the playground. When they get there, however, Luz is running past the playground into the woods.

“Hell yeah, that’s my girl! Stick it to the system!” Eda whoops.

Following the girl, the pair is led out to a cliffside. The stars shine brightly above them, and they look up in awe.

“Wow…”

Luz is sitting on a log a ways away, staring up at the stars. Titan knows where she is with this little light pollution, Lilith thinks.

“This is a nice place she got here,” Eda says, impressed. “But let’s face it, she could’ve also been eaten by a pack of giraffes.”

“Giraffes don’t travel in packs.”

“...It was just an expression.”

A beat. The three of them look up at the stars. The galaxy, probably the equivalent to the Milky Way on Earth, is visible around here, despite the bright lights at the carnival. The scene is really peaceful, the carnival music simply playing as background in favor for the crickets chirping in the grass.

“You know, I’ve been thinking…” Eda starts.

“Wow, really?” Lilith asks, feigning shock.

“No, really,” Eda says, chuckling. “I mean, I’ve been wondering. Luz has round ears, right? She’s human.” Lilith nods. “Her mother has round ears as well. But her father…”

“...has pointed ears,” Lilith finishes.

“It would explain how Luz would have found herself in the Boiling Isles,” Eda says. “But why were we in the human realm for the rest of her life? Amity was a witch too.” Lilith hums in reply, unsure.

There’s a rustling sound coming from the woods to their left.

“Oh shit! I told you packs of giraffes dwell here,” Eda says, frightened. She braces for impact, hiding behind her sister. But no giraffes come.

A little witch with brown hair comes through the trees instead. She brushes leaves out of her hair and stops when she spots Luz sitting on the bench. Luz notices her presence and stands up quickly. “..Hello!” she says as a greeting. The girl, frightened, runs back the way she came. As she runs, Eda gets a better look at her face. She almost doesn’t recognize her without the green hair.

Amity.

“Wait! Don’t go!” Luz calls after her. “I’m Luz. What’s your name?”

“...You’re in my spot,” is all Amity replies. Luz tilts her head.

“Your spot?” she looks back to the bench, then to Amity, her eyes widening. “Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hog this place all to myself. Um,” Luz fidgets. “You wanna join me?” she asks.

“Are you here to watch the stars?” Amity asks.

“Are you?”

The pair move to sit on the bench, looking back up at the stars just as they were before.

“Just look at them…” Luz says in awe after a moment. “Did you know there were so many lights in the sky?”

“Yes,” Amity replies immediately.

“Oh. Uh, I did too. You said this was your spot, right?” Amity sighs, nodding.

“Only during the carnival.”

“Not a fan of the crowds?” Luz asks. “Me neither.” There’s a lull in conversation. “You know, you never told me your name.”

“I’m not telling you. Everyone makes fun of me.”

“Why?” Luz asks. Amity only shrugs.

“My family, I guess. Where I’m from.” Luz nods.

“I know what it’s like. To be bullied, I mean. People make fun of me at school too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I’m used to it,” she sighs.

“It doesn’t sound like a good thing to be used to…” Amity trails off. “Just for once, I think I’d like to be like everyone else. Like those lights in the sky. They all look the same from here, but that doesn’t make them any less pretty.”

“Eh, I suppose,” Luz says. “..What do you think those stars up there are anyways?”

“My dad says they’re giant burning spheres of gas,” Amity replies, her tone resembling someone with years of education under her belt.

“I bet he’s making it up.”

“Why would he lie to me?”

“Because, you know, that’s what grown-ups do. They make things up. Santa, Easter Bunny, kangaroos, stuff like that.”

“Have you ever made an… Easter Bunny out of stars before?” Amity asks. Luz tilts her head.

“Like a constellation?” Amity nods. “Um. Of other things… never tried a rabbit, though.” Amity plays with her dress.

“...Do you want to make one?” she asks hesitantly. Luz lights up.

“Yeah! We’ll make the bestest constellation ever! Let's see who makes one out first! Okay, we’ll start in 3… 2… 1… annnnd star-”

“I see it,” Amity says immediately. Luz looks surprised.

“Er… where?”

“In the sky.” Luz looks at her as if to say “Well yeah, no shit”. But she doesn’t say that because she’s like, eight.

“But where in the sky?”

“Think big.”

“Eh…”

“Bigger than all the others.” Luz looks even harder, looking for the shape of the rabbit in the sky. Eventually, she looks back to Amity.

“...I don’t know,” she says finally. But she looks back up one last time and her eyes widen. “Wait a minute… wait a minute! I see it!” Amity chuckles.

“Tell me what you see.”

“There, right?” Luz asks, pointing just above the moon. “There’re the two ears and the head!” Amity nods.

“What else?”

“And there… there’s two big feet!” Luz grins, and Amity smiles softly at her.

“Yes. What else?”

“And…” Luz pauses, observing the night sky. “And the moon! The moon is the big round tummy!” Amity giggles, nodding. There’s a beat between the two for the moment.

“So… what do you think they really are?” Luz asks. “The stars, I mean.”

“I… I’ve never told anyone, but… I’ve always thought they were lighthouses. Billions of lighthouses, stuck at the far end of the sky.”

“Wow. It must be so lively up there,” Luz gapes. Amity doesn’t appear to share the same sentiment.

“But it isn’t. They can see all the other lighthouses out there, and they want to talk to them. But they can’t. Because they’re too far apart to hear what the others are saying. All they can do… is shine their lights from afar. So that’s what they do. They shine their lights at the other lighthouses, and at me.”

Luz tilts her head. “Why you?”

Amity falters. “Because one day… I’m going to befriend one of them.”

A silent moment passes between them.

“That bag… what’s in it?” Amity asks. Luz looks down reflexively.

“Oh, it’s the prize I won from whac-a-beast. Did you get to play that game?”

“I tried, but I’m too clumsy,” Amity sighs. “What did you get from it?” Luz reaches into her bag and pulls out a stuffed animal.

“I got a… thing. I don’t really know what it is. It’s some sort of a weird dog thing.”

“May I see it?” Amity asks. Luz shrugs, handing her the plush. The doctors recognize it as the one from Luz and Amity’s house.

“It looks so strange,” Amity giggles. “I wish I could win one myself.”

“Luz?!” A voice yells. The girl jumps, startled.

“Yikes, that’s mami calling!” Amity leans forward to hand back the dog.

“...Here.”

“You know what? Keep it, it’s yours.”

“Mine?” Amity asks in disbelief.

“Yeah, I can always get another one. I don’t like to brag,” Luz says, puffing up her chest. “But I’m totally the best at that game!” Amity hugs the creature closer to her body, smiling.

“Will you be here next year?” she asks.

“Yup. Will you?”

“Same place, same time?”

“Yes,” she says. A pause. “But, I’m worried. What if you forget, or get lost?” Luz grins at her.

“Then we can always regroup on the moon, silly! Right on the rabbits tummy!”

“You can do that?” Amity asks in disbelief.

“Sure you can! Have you ever heard of NASA?”

“Luz! Mija!” Camilia calls again.

“Coming!” she calls back. Before she leaves, she turns back to Amity. “Oh, by the way, I left my hacky sack in the bag, too. You said you’re clumsy, right? Maybe it’ll help with, I don’t know, coordination or something!”

“If they ever get lost…?” Eda asks. “Wait, does that mean-”

“Don’t tell me you didn’t see it coming,” Lilith says.

“And here I thought this was gonna be an inspirational childhood dream story. I should’ve known some girl would come along and turn it into a cheesefest.” Lilith looks out, somber, simultaneously ignoring Eda’s comment.

“I suppose now… we know what we must do to send her to the moon.”

“Wait, you aren’t actually going to do it, are you?” Eda asks, shocked. Lilith sighs. 

“It’s our job, Edalyn. It’s what we’re contracted to do.”

“Damn it, Lilith, what-” Before Eda can finish her sentence, her sister disappears from the dreamscape. “Lilith…” She sighs, resigning herself.

Eda follows her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> find me on tumblr: @a-sad-song-on-a-rainy-day
> 
> next chapter is the last! how do u think it's gonna end :o


	10. Chapter Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the end...

“I know you’re in here!” Eda calls out to the empty abominations classroom. She walks up to the frozen Amity. “This is all your fault.” She turns to Luz. “I’m doing this for you, you artificially-generated bastard.” Despite Eda’s yelling, Lilith is nowhere to be seen. Eda sighs, leaving the classroom. Lilith is down the hall. She stops when she hears Eda’s voice. “Turn around.” Lilith makes no move to do so.

“Edalyn…”

“I know what you are planning to do.” Lilith sighs.

“I know that you know.”

“Yeah? Well I know that you know that I kn-” Eda is cut off by her sister.

“Look, our contract is to send him to the moon. And the only way for that to happen is… if Luz is motivated to do so.”

“But if that means removing Amity, then what’s the point? The reason why she wants to go to the moon in the first place is because she died!”

“I know. But we are legally bound by the contract to specifically-”

“Fuck the contract!” Eda swears, effectively shutting up her sister. “I didn’t take this job to make her miserable, Lilith. I don’t know about you, but I signed up to help the freakin’ geezers die happy.”

“Me too,” Lilith sighs. “And I like this job. But if we directly go against our legal obligations we’d be in for court hearings.”

“We’ll appeal,” Eda argues. “We know that Luz would be happier to not go to the moon.”

“Luz,” Lilith says sternly. “Would be happier with a lot of alternate life tangents, Edalyn. We are not here to play Titan. Our job is to give her what she signed up for.”

“Well, we happen to know what she wants better than she does!” Lilith looks away.

“Look, I’m only risking losing Amity because I believe in her, and-”

“What do you mean, ‘risk’? You’re removing her!”

“...and besides, I will make up for it.”

“Make up for it how?!” Eda bellows.

The dreamscape flashes red. A loud boom echoes.

“We’re running out of time,” Lilith says. “Just trust me.” She runs off down the hallway.

“Says the one who pushed me off the fucking lighthouse,” Eda mutters. She goes to follow her sister down the hallway, but the halls shift and the lights flicker. She backs up in confusion, but ultimately decides to follow the hallway anyway. A few minutes later, the lights go out. “Freakin’ light data…” Eda grumbles. “Abusing your powers doesn’t disable my controls entirely, Lily!”

As she continues down the hall, she nearly gets bowled over by a novelty beach ball. “Booby traps? Really, Lilith?” A piece of machinery nearly hits her in the head. “Those are some expensive pieces of equipment you’re tossing!”

She continues dodging the traps down the hall for a few more minutes. “Look, don’t make me exit this whole thing and unplug you.”

“Would you really risk distorting her memories as they are?” Lilith asks from the darkness. Eda pauses, reluctant to risk it. “Just stop trying, please. This won’t take long.” The lights go out.

“Ugh, not again.”

Suddenly, a horde of Lilith looking zombies stalks toward her.

“What the fuck, Lilith,” Eda sighs. “I’m not playing your distraction game anymore. Fuck this.” Eda snaps her fingers, throwing the zombies out of existence. The hallways shift again. Memory after memory meets Eda again and again, and she is forced to live through the trauma over and over. Now the whole construct’s screwed up.

“What else?” asks a distorted Amity. Several other hazy characters suddenly surround her, spewing random phrases of their own.

“It’s finished, Amity. She won’t be alone anymore.”

“Wait, don’t go!”

“Look, it was a long time ago”

A phone is at the end of the hall. Eda rolls her eyes, picking up the receiver.

“Hello, Edalyn,” Lilith’s voice sounds through the phone. Eda fakes a gasp.

“...Morpheus?”

“What?” Lilith asks. “It’s Lilith, you idiot.”

“No shit, we’re the only ones here. Listen, whatever you’ve been doing, stop it. We might not know what Luz wants, but we know what she doesn’t want. And what she doesn’t want is exactly what you are accelerating.”

“...It’s already done, Edalyn.” Eda pauses. The receiver slips through her fingers. “...Why don’t you come out now?”

She walks through the now opened hall back into the lunchroom. Luz steals a sandwich from Gus, and this time, Amity doesn’t intervene. She’s dragged out by a teacher, conveniently.

“What did you do to her?” Eda asks.

“Relax. She’s merely going elsewhere,” Lilith tries to reassure. Eda tries to run after the girl, but she’s stopped in her place.

“You know, it’s one thing to disable my controls to feed me some apple blood, but this is way out of line.” 

“I’m sorry, but this just won’t go anywhere if you keep on resetting the memory. At this point, this is the only way. I’m asking you to trust me. So please, just calm down and wait here.”

“Then just pull the trigger already,” Eda scoffs. Lilith begins to walk away. “Where are you going?”

“...There’s just one last thing I need to do.” A giant door appears in front of her.

“Poser. There’s no need to visualize a door.”

“What’s with all this melodrama, Edalyn? Why are you fighting so hard for this?” Eda doesn’t reply. After a moment, Lilith turns to the door. “Forget it, there’s no time.” She opens the door and walks through, it disappears behind her. Eda turns to Luz, who is happily talking to Willow and Gus.

“Sorry, kid. It’s already started.” She follows Lilith through the door.

\-------

Luz is standing outside a building, the word “Covention” on a sign in front of it. Luz is ecstatic, walking around the facility. She watches the shows, but Amity isn’t there to challenge her. There’s no light moment. There’s no moment at all. She’s just aimlessly wandering.

“Saving him doesn’t justify it.”

“She can always find another ‘Amity’, Eda. But she’ll only have one father. C’mon, we’re in the way.”

\-------

Since Luz doesn’t have a place back on the Boiling Isles, she’s stuck on Earth. She stays there, trekking through the endless teasing, the snarky comments, the pain. But she studies. She studies hard, taking advanced classes. She becomes more proficient in the sciences, and eventually, she gets a call from NASA.

She got the job.

“She actually made it, huh?”

“You sound surprised,” Lilith says. “Whatever happened to ‘we always succeed, because we are awesome’?”

“This isn’t a success.”

“Oh, lighten up, Edalyn. We’re at NASA!” Lilith drops her false smile when Eda leaves her straight face. “We don’t have much time left, let’s at least check this place out.”

They walk through the front door, and Luz is talking to a man in a white lab coat by the reception desk. “Please wait here,” he says. “Someone will come and show you around shortly.”

“‘How pathetic, all this trouble just for some girl,’” Lilith says. Eda is taken aback slightly. “...That’s what I thought you’d say, Edalyn.

“How pathetic, all this trouble just for some girl,” Eda echoes.

“There you go. Good to have you back.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Eda breathes noncommittally. A book is set on the table. It’s entitled, “To the Moon”.

“The story about a lameduck’s attempt to become an astronaut -- A novel by Jaime Noceda.” Eda snorts. “I can’t believe this actually sold.”

“This isn’t the real world, Edalyn,” Lilith reminds. She sets the book back on the table.

On the second floor is the mission control center, or so says the unnamed lab coat man.

“There’s not much going on right now,” the man continues. “But you’ll see it live one day.”

“It’s not here…” Lilith mutters.

On the third floor lies the centrifuge. “If you’re lucky, you’ll learn to hate it one day,” the man chuckles.

“Ah yes, the spinny thingy,” Eda says with false prestige.

“It’s not here either…”

“What are you talking about?” Eda asks. Lilith doesn’t reply.

“The shuttle’s still under heavy maintenance. We may only view it from here for now.” The pair is on the fourth floor now.

“Ugh, this isn’t good. Perhaps there’s somewhere we missed.”

“Er, you need to work on your communication skills,” Eda says hesitantly. Lilith sighs.

“Let’s just head back downstairs.”

“I wonder if the real NASA looks like this,” Eda remarks. They’re standing in an empty room, a glass table sitting at the side the only thing occupying it.

“Probably not, it’s constructed in part with Luz’s beliefs after all.” 

“Ah yes, a wiki of existing facts tainted by personal fairytales. It’s odd, though, to hear birds and see none.” Lilith sits in silence before suddenly speaking up.

“Sorry, Eda. I really thought there was a good chance.”

“...A good chance of what?” she asks. “You’re not making sense, Lily.”

Suddenly, Luz walks through the door with white coat man again.

“...And this is the break room! Here’s David, he’s a mission specialist.”

“Nice to meet you!” Luz greets, smiling.

“...At least she got into NASA, I guess. You think she made it to the end?” Eda asks her sister.

“Even if she did, it’d take more than just a few years to become an astronaut,” Liilith muses.

“Let’s hurry and find the last link, then. I’d hate to miss the finale.” Something shifts in the room. “...What’s going on? Are we out of time?”

“I… I don’t know…” Lilith answers truthfully. Eda turns around to look at the door.

And a girl with mint green hair steps through.

“Ah, and here’s our other new recruit!” White coat man exclaims. “Amity, right? Good to have you on board.”

Luz tilts her head, walking up to the witch. “Hello, I’m Luz. What's your name?"

“Whew,” Lilith sighs. “I almost thought she wasn’t-”

“What the fuck, Lilith?!” Eda yells. “But- you- deleted her!”

“No, I told you, I just moved her. What she does with her life here is still up to ‘her’. But this new world, it’s based on public data and Luz’s own beliefs. And since Amity’s data as an individual is not recorded in the public domain… It all comes from Luz.”

“But even then,” Eda starts. “That merely increases the odds. How were you sure that it’d work?”

“I wasn’t,” she answers simply.

“It could’ve gone very badly, you know.”

“Surprising, isn’t it? You’re usually the risk taker of this duo. Let’s just say I won this round. We still have the two spare helmets, right?” Eda nods. “Right. I think Luz would appreciate some company.”

\-------

A beautiful melody plays from a room down the hall, echoing through the corridors. Inside, a young woman with short brown hair plays a piano. A song, with the same two notes repeated over and over.

“She wrote it herself, apparently,” a hazy person says to Amity. “Rather repetitive if you ask me, though.”

“What’s it called?” she asks.

“‘To the Moon’.” Amity smiles.

“I like that name,” she says softly.

On the outside world, Skara and the doctor are tied into the machine, prepared to enter the dreamscape.

“Oh, there you are!” a hazy memory says, referring to Amity and Luz, who are sitting together on the piano bench, their hands dangerously close to one another. “You two should get some rest. Tomorrow’s the big day!”

The scene shifts again to a beautiful sunset. The doctors are watching the launch froma bridge, which looks out to NASA’s launchpad.

“I wanna be an astronaut too, dad!” a little boy says to his father, pulling on his sleeve.

“One day, son, you just might.”

“Meh,” Eda says, moving on to look at the other people who decided to attend. To her surprise, she sees Willow and Gus standing together at the edge.

“Did you think that they would make it?” Willow asks.

“Hah," Gus laughs. "Did you?”

“No. The way she is, I didn’t think she would succeed. But I… I guess I was wrong.”

“...All the better then, isn’t it?”

“Yes… I’m happy for them,” Willow decides. Shortly after that conversation ends, two green-haired twins engulf them in hugs. Eda moves on.

“Y’know, that’s my daughter in that shuttle,” Jaime brags to the person next to him.

“Wow,” they say.

“Yep. I once wrote a book about this, too. With a less optimistic ending, heh. I might have to change that after all.”

“Hey… Dr. Clawthorne, right?” 

“Skara!” Eda exclaims. She chuckles, hesitating for a moment.

“Thank you for letting us in here,” she says, referring to the doctor who accompanied her.

“Yeah, of course. Lilith’s the one who requested it.”

“Did you find out why she wanted to go to the moon?” Skara asks.

“Sure,” Eda says.

Skara looks puzzled at this answer. “And? What all happened here?”

Eda pauses. “Let’s just say it was a bunch of sappy cheese that sorted itself out.” The doctor takes this moment to interrupt.

“You know, there were quite a few times last night when I thought we lost Luz. I think she consciously held on to wait for you two.” 

“She’s rather patient, then,” Eda notes.

“I just hope it’s worth the wait. This is the first time I’ve ever been…”

“It probably won’t be your last.”

“...It’ll probably take a while to get used to, then. Go on now, your sister is waiting for you.” Eda looks over, and, sure enough, Lilith is sitting on the edge of the bridge, looking out to the launchpad. She decides to join her.

“I thought this might be a good view,” Lilith says.

“Good enough to cut the traffic, eh.”

“Sure, even if they were real,” Lilith laughs. “Well, this is it. All we’ve worked for. Ready to initiate it?”

“Let’s do it.”

Inside NASA headquarters, Luz and Amity are preparing for takeoff. The control center is bustling with commotion, and the cockpit of the ship is buzzing with excitement.

“Houston…”

“We are GO for launch.” The ground shakes, and the ship takes off. The control room whoops with joy and the bystanders watch as the machine lifts into the sky.

Inside the ship, Luz and Amity look at each other. They fly past Camilia, who sits there, watching their flight toward the stars. The rest of their new, modified life together gradually filtered into Luz’s memories. Not only will she have Amity with her, but Jaime will be there as well.

A soft beep echoes from above.

The house on the hill will be completed.

More soft beeps.

...They’ll be allowed to grow old together.

The beeps continue.

The dreamscape flashes red for a moment. Luz looks around in panic.

The beeps become louder, more drastic.

Luz looks toward Amity, who’s smiling at her, holding out her hand. Luz takes it.

Louder.

Amity strokes Luz’s thumb with her own.

A deafening tone runs long.

She’s gone.

\-----

“Here she is!” Sarah says. She and Tommy gesture over to the lighthouse Camilia. Two graves sit beneath it, one relatively newer than the other.

“Thank you,” Lilith says, nodding her head at the young children. “Off you go, now.” The two scurry off elsewhere. Eda enters the scene.

“I still can’t believe Luz just willed the house to Skara like that,” she whispers in disbelief.

“Who else was there to give it to? Us? Terrible place for burials, though,” Eda says, referring to the graves next to Camilia. “If there’s a landslide, they’d be swimming with the fishes.”

“...Still a little too soon,” Lilith says.

“Nah, it’s never soon enough.”

Eda and Lillith look to the setting sun behind the lighthouse. The oranges blend with a beautiful pinkish hue, the sun barely visible.

“Do you think she’s happy?” Eda asks. “Luz?” Lilith smiles. She takes the dog plush, since tossed over probably due to wind, and places it in between the graves.

“Luz is reunited with her parents again. And with Amity.” She smiles, looking up at the sky then back at her sister.

“I’d say this is the happiest she’s ever been.”

_Fin_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *ahem* so if some things are yucky it's because I had to redo this like 3 times
> 
> anyway. thank you for reading, it means so much that you guys like the story. y'all have been a wonderful audience.
> 
> if you have any questions, feel free to ask.
> 
> find me on tumblr @a-sad-song-on-a-rainy-day
> 
> thanks  
> rain


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